The Growing Market
Life expectancy in the UK is increasing at an incredible rate. Newcastle University believes that an ageing society creates fantastic business opportunities. People are living much longer and continue to need food, accommodation, clothing, transportation, finances, travel & leisure, health care and education.
"While life expectancy continues to increase at its current rate, we must wake up to the fact that we are living a 29-hour day. We have 24 hours to use now, and we are putting five hours away for later. It is imperative that we do everything possible to make sure that those five hours will be as good as they can be when it is time to use them."
Tom Kirkwood, Professor of Medicine, Newcastle University
View Video 1 with Professor Tom Kirkwood - Why and how people are living longer.
The Global Impact
The global impact of increased life expectancy in terms of population and wealth is vividly portrayed in Hans Rosling's Video 2 - 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes video from a BBC Four broadcast.
This demand needs to be met with new or modified inclusive products and services to meet the wider variation of needs and aspirations in the older population.
- In 2008, 22% of the population were aged over 60
- In 2033 this is predicted to rise to 29%
- By 2083 the over 60s will account for 36% of the population (Office for National Statistics 2008 projections)
The fastest growing groups are the oldest
Currently the over 50s:
- hold 80% of the nation’s wealth
- are responsible for 40% of consumer spend - that’s £260 billion a year
- are 20 million strong and growing fast
- buy 80% of all top of the range cars, 50% of skincare products and 80% of leisure cruises
- spend over 3 times as much than the under 30s on Goods & Services and Recreation & Culture and twice as much on Restaurants & Hotels (as shown in the graph)
- have only around 10% of marketing focus spent on them!
View Video 3 to see Julian Healey (ex Head of Marketing at SAGA) describe the business opportunities created by an ageing market.
In addition, 56% of the 50 plus population have a home pc or laptop and 70% have a mobile phone. (Wealth and Statistics data from ‘The Golden Economy’ as commissioned by Age UK (PDF: 1.23MB).
Companies can gain a competitive edge and market share in a growing market and build a sustainable and profitable business while helping to improve people's quality of life.
Mike Morgan, Business Development Manager, Changing Age for Business
(View a list of media and data sources on the ageing market)
