The global population is ageing, driven by a combination of increased longevity and declining fertility. By 2030, one in seven people worldwide will be aged 65 or older, compared with roughly one in 11 in 2015. Across Asia, populations are ageing at a pace the world has never seen. Countries like Japan, South Korea and China have progressed from ageing to aged societies in just a few decades – a shift that took Europe half a century. By 2050, more than one in five Asians will be 65 or older. In China alone, the number of people aged 65 and above will account for more than 20% of the national population by 2035. Japan is already the world’s oldest nation, and South Korea is ageing among the fastest globally.
We believe that today’s structural ageing trend will create significant opportunities and drive transformation in the global economy, particularly as supportive policies, healthcare advancements, and wealth accumulation enable longer, active and dignified living.
Market studies have valued the longevity economy at USD 3 trillion in 2025, making it comparable to the top 10 nominal GDPs in the world. It is projected to grow by ~6-7% CAGR, reaching USD 5.4 trillion by 2034. For countries that have already entered an aged-society stage, this demographic shift brings profound implications for the healthcare, robotics and AI, consumer and financial services sector.
Exhibit 1: The ageing of the global population is accelerating in this decade
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Source: Our World in Data, UN, Bank of Singapore
Health is what turns longevity into a joyful experience, enabled by a two-pronged approach of treatment and prevention. Unsurprisingly, it is expected to capture the lion’s share of the longevity economy, with some estimates putting it at around 40%.
With rising life expectancy, the prevalence of age-related diseases is on the rise. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), common health conditions in older populations include hearing loss, cataracts, back and neck pain, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, depression, and dementia. Incidence rates of heart attacks are estimated to be around 7x more likely in individuals 65-74 years of age and over 14x for individuals over 80 years vs 35-44 year old.
Some of the top ageing-related drug opportunities centre on disease modification for high-prevalence chronic conditions and novel mechanisms targeting the “hallmarks of ageing” themselves. While traditional blockbusters for Alzheimer's and obesity remain in the spotlight, there is a clear strategic shift toward senotherapeutics (clearing damaged cells) and metabolic or mitochondrial interventions that aim to address the root causes of decline rather than just managing late-stage symptoms.
Yet ageing populations are placing growing pressure on health systems. In China, people over 60 already account for nearly 70% of medical spending, and chronic diseases comprise more than 70% of national healthcare spending – a cost set to rise. This underscores the need to shift from treatment to prevention. A longevity society requires systems where regular screening, risk assessment and personalised advice become routine. Digital health platforms, AI-powered analytics and remote monitoring are beginning to make this possible by connecting fragmented data and offering tailored insights. A longevity-ready ecosystem must also extend beyond hospitals. Community-based care, age-friendly public spaces, accessible screening centres and adaptive health services will be essential.
Labour availability and shortages have continued to increase risks for corporates, posing a greater risk of project delays and cancellations. Companies have increasingly referenced ageing populations and labour shortages in annual reports and earnings transcripts, while labour availability is becoming a bankruptcy risk for companies in Japan and a key bottleneck for construction and the new energy buildout.
While increasing labour force participation by raising retirement age alongside re-skilling could mitigate labour shortage, we think a more durable solution is to utilise AI and robotics.
Rapidly ageing countries, such as China, Germany, Japan, and South Korea have made significant investments in automation and AI. China remains the world's largest industrial robotics market, with installations reaching 295,000 units in 2024 (54% of the global total) to counteract a diminishing demographic dividend. Companies have also taken related initiatives, albeit partly motivated by productivity and profitability gains e.g. a major e-commerce company is deploying a generative AI model to help coordinate and optimise the movement of robots across the fulfilment network, which could enhance robot travel efficiency by 10%.
Other than substituting labour, AI and robotics often acts as a force multiplier that enhances the capacity of the current workforce by automating administrative and logistical “friction”. For instance, in healthcare the robots could perform routine logistical tasks such as transporting supplies, medications, and lab samples, in turn allowing nurses to focus on direct patient care rather than non-clinical walking tasks. In sectors like legal and finance, AI is being used to automate document review and data analysis, freeing up the limited labour’s time to focus on other aspects such as client meetings or work on more complex cases.
In addition, AI could increase the employability of senior workers. More than 40% of CEOs plan to shift the composition of their workforce toward mid-level or senior positions, while only 17% plan to make junior roles a bigger part of the mix. This reflects the current scope of AI agents, which can perform structured tasks – from writing junior-level code to screening sales leads – yet remain limited in making nuanced judgment calls that rely on accumulated on-the-job experience. The future could lean towards having mid- to senior-level people that can manage an agentic workforce with intricate knowledge of the company and job.
Exhibit 2: China leads overwhelmingly in the industrial robots installed in 2024
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Source: Our World in Data, Bank of Singapore
The ageing global population is fundamentally reshaping the financial services industry while placing significant strain on public pension and insurance models. As populations transition toward retirement, financial institutions are pivoting from simple wealth accumulation to complex decumulation, longevity risk management, and intergenerational wealth transfer services. Meanwhile, governments are paring back or will eventually have to reduce the financial support for the elderly population as the fiscal burden becomes too much to bear. As such, the structural shift from public to private pension system is set to continue.
The primary shift in wealth management is the transition of clients from growth-oriented investing to stable income generation as they approach retirement, therefore necessitating a change in the mix of products offered by asset management companies. Annuities could also become increasingly used to address the longevity risk i.e. outliving savings, particularly when the retirement period gets longer.
In insurance, policies with "living benefits" that support policyholders through long-term care and chronic illness, such as health riders that provide financial support for age-related illnesses like Alzheimer’s, would also see higher demand. As people spend more years in retirement and live longer, insurance companies can adapt by extending the age limit for term and medical insurance.
Banks could capture the silver dollars by creating “one-stop” platforms that provide not just financial advice but also preferential rates for elderly care institutions, medicine purchases, and “senior tourism”. Banks could also sell wealth management and insurance products e.g. annuities, critical illness plans that have higher appeal to an ageing population.
Despite the broadly positive and emerging areas of growth opportunities for the financial services in an ageing population, the diverse starting points in the public-private pension mix, mindsets and policies among countries would mean vastly different growth opportunities for the private sector. For instance, the US has developed a relatively mature and highly market-oriented pension system, with broad participation from financial institutions, asset managers, and insurance firms. On the other hand, Japan's pension and retirement financial services are primarily led by government and quasi-government entities, with the GPIF overseeing the management of public pension funds by delegating portfolios to external managers. Trust banks and life insurance companies meanwhile participate in the management of corporate pension funds, but overall market competition is weaker and the level of marketisation is lower than in the US.
The most immediate impact of an ageing demographic is a re-allocation of household spending toward healthier nutrition.
Food and beverage consumption is expected to shift away from high-sugar, high-volume products toward functional, nutrition-dense, and "better-for-you" offerings. This transition is driven by a growing focus on "healthy longevity," where older consumers prioritise extending their health span through proactive diet and nutritional management. Consumers are increasingly adopting a "self-directed health management" approach, utilising diet and nutrition to maintain health rather than just treating illness. The market is also shifting from "classic, high-sugar" categories to functional products that offer specific health benefits, such as gut health support or glycemic control.
In Japan, many food and beverage companies are highlighting business developments centring on food and nutrition with the ageing population in mind. This is happening amidst structural changes such as an ongoing shift in eating habits from home-cooked meals to ready-made meals and eating out. At the same time, a significant number of consumers of ready-made and restaurant meals have some dissatisfaction or concerns on the nutritional balance and the amount of vegetables they are getting.
Another structural trend is the greater diversification of demand and sales channels, such as the shift to smaller mass markets, personalisation, D2C (direct to consumer) and greater use of food delivery. Consumers will benefit from greater choices and diversification including: (i) products for healthy needs and easy-to-use products; (ii) products such as processed foods and supplements previously available in supermarkets and drugstores are now available as delivery-based ready-made meals or meal-kits; and (iii) products for special demand segments, such as full-nutrient meals and meals for the elderly.
Rising health consciousness among Chinese consumers is reshaping food companies' long-term strategy as penetration is less of a growth driver than in the previous 20 years; premiumisation with better product quality should serve as a structural driver. In general, there is greater focus on product innovation for better nutrition intake and healthier menus by companies particularly in the beverages, beer, dairy snacks, condiment, consumer and restaurant categories. Meanwhile, brand marketing and consumer education are gradually shifting towards healthy lifestyles.
For instance, leading dairy companies have started to focus their R&D efforts on functional nutritional dairy products for healthy diets, with protein intake and weight control under different consumption occasions and for different age groups.
Entertainment and experiences (e.g. travel) have often been touted as beneficiaries because seniors might value them over durable goods such as cars and electronics. There are a variety of reasons fuelling the elderly’s desire to travel, including more leisure time post-retirement and higher disposable incomes. Exposure to the Internet and social media has also generated greater awareness of places and experiences away from home. Travel need not be “slow” as well, with 23% of baby boomers indicating interest in thrill-seeking activities like skydiving.
According to a European Commission (EC) study, Europeans aged between 65 to 70 tend to make longer trips, due to greater availability of time post-retirement, as well as lower incidence of health issues. Those aged 65 and above also favour domestic travel, and prefer non-rented accommodation (such as self-owned holiday homes and staying with friends or relatives).
As silver tourism gains traction, new realms of travel such as geriatric tourism may combine healthcare and hospitality, interspersing tourist activities with medical procedures targeted at the health and wellbeing of the elderly. These may include traditional medical services (i.e. diagnosis and treatment), but also auxiliary services such as alternative medicine and thermal facilities.
Some seniors may gravitate towards “slow” tourism for special tours that incorporate relaxation activities such as meditation, yoga, massage, and traditional medicine therapy.
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External presenter views
Bank of Singapore zooms into the 2026 Supertrends: Cycles, Halos and Moonshots – a forward looking framework exploring how capital, risk and opportunity are being reshaped by five structural shifts.
We invite you to read the 2026 Supertrends report and explore how these forces may shape portfolios in the years ahead.
