Chinese companies seek gold in ‘silver economy’ as population greys

Many older people are now healthy, active, time-rich and have significant purchasing power, according to Hong Kong Trade Development Council’s Irina Fan

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Senior citizens enjoyed coffee at a rehabilitation facility in Tianjin in 2023. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 7:30am, 4 Sep 2024Updated: 8:26am, 4 Sep 2024

In a small Shanghai supermarket recently, customers were surprised to see more options for adult diapers than what was available on shelves for babies. A few aisles away, in the section for milk formula, they noticed a similar trend – more choices for adults than for infants.

“High calcium and low fat milk powder is particularly popular,” a store assistant said. “There are quite a few people buying adult milk powder now.”

China’s leaders and its business community face significant challenges as the population gets older; the number of people aged 60 and above reached nearly 297 million, or 21.1 per cent of its total population, last year. But these seniors, with their financial resources and active lifestyles, are increasingly being targeted with a litany of products and services.

“Many older people are healthy, active, time-rich and have significant purchasing power,” said Irina Fan, director of research at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

China’s growing cohort of seniors have worked their way through a period of unparalleled economic expansion. The country’s gross-domestic product (GDP) growth has averaged nearly 9 per cent a year since 1989. And some companies have already started to reap the benefits from their pivots to address this burgeoning market.

For example, Trip.com’s “Old Friends Club” debuted earlier this year, but the brand – which is focused on China-based users aged 50 and above – has already recorded 1.6 billion yuan (US$224.36 million) in user spending.