Ageing population prompts new market opportunities
According to Euromonitor, 8.2% of the world\'s population will be aged over 65 by 2020
An ageing global population could create marketing opportunities, according to research analyst Euromonitor. One reason is that people over 65 tend to spend more of their money on themselves than younger demographics.
There will be 775 million people aged over 65 in 2020, according to Euromonitor, accounting for 8.2% of the world population. In its Annual Survey for 2011, it found that this segment of the population “tend to spend their money rather than save, and what is more they are inclined to spend it on themselves”.
Although ageing may be predominantly a mature market issue at present, Euromonitor predicts the phenomenon will also start to impact emerging markets in future. For example. although four of the world’s five oldest countries are in the Eurozone: Germany, Italy, Greece and Austria (behind Japan), four of the five fastest-ageing countries in the world are in the Middle East: the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Maldives and Iran. In both cases, and the ageing population is likely to have a negative impact on the economic slowdown, particularly in Europe.
In terms of consumption, older consumers are the fastest-growing market segment, but are still under-served, said Euromonitor.
“Ageing populations have an impact on obvious sectors such as health goods and services but they are also interested in technology, travel and other experiences and many goods and services that are typically identified with the young.”
