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Silver Hair Economy: A New Blue Ocean in the Setting Sun
The 2025 Government Work Report proposed "improving policies and mechanisms for the development of the elderly care industry and services, and vigorously developing the silver-hair economy." Developing the silver-hair economy is an important measure and a necessary requirement for actively responding to population aging, cultivating new economic growth drivers, and improving people's quality of life. Today's "silver-hair generation" is different from the past. The cognitive ability, purchasing power, lifestyles, and consumption habits of the new generation of older people are changing rapidly. The silver-hair economy is rapidly transitioning from a "small incision" in traditional elderly care services to a "large industry" encompassing all elements, the entire chain, and all scenarios, becoming a new blue ocean with unlimited potential.
The silver-hair economy refers to the sum of all economic activities that provide products or services to the elderly and prepare for old age. This includes public services that meet the needs of the elderly in areas such as dining, medical care, caregiving, and culture and sports, as well as various market economic activities that meet the multi-layered and diverse product and service needs of the elderly and pre-elderly population, such as the development of senior products, smart health care for the elderly, rehabilitation aids, anti-aging products, elderly financial products, elderly tourism services, and age-friendly renovations.
The happiness of a society largely depends on the happiness of its elderly population. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized the need to develop the elderly care and aging industries, clearly stating that "we must vigorously develop the silver-hair economy. We should support the scaled, standardized, clustered, and branded development of the elderly care industry, and cultivate high-end products and high-quality service models." The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council have successively issued special plans such as the "National Long-Term Plan for Actively Responding to Population Aging" and the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Elderly Cause and the Elderly Care Service System," clearly setting out the tasks and requirements for developing the silver-hair economy. In January 2024, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Developing the Silver-Hair Economy and Promoting the Well-being of the Elderly," making systematic arrangements for 26 measures in four areas to promote the continuous optimization of the development environment of the silver-hair economy and the continuous expansion of its scale.
According to estimates, the current scale of China's silver-hair economy is around 7 trillion yuan, accounting for about 6% of GDP. The elderly care service industry, consumption of senior products, elderly finance, health, and tourism-related industries are showing explosive growth. By 2035, the scale of the silver-hair economy is expected to reach 30 trillion yuan, accounting for about 10% of GDP.
China's silver-hair economy has a large market space and rapid development speed, but overall it is still in its "youth," and faces some challenges. For example, the research and development of elderly products is relatively lagging, the standard system for related products and services needs to be improved, and support policies for social forces to run elderly care institutions still need to be improved and implemented. To cultivate the silver-hair economy into a new growth point, we must adhere to reform and innovation to overcome development bottlenecks, use systematic thinking to bring together the efforts of all parties, promote a better combination of effective markets and capable governments, and promote the coordinated development of the elderly cause and the elderly care industry. Focusing on the "key small matters" that concern the elderly, expanding product supply, improving quality, cultivating potential industries, and continuously meeting the increasingly diverse and multi-layered product and service needs of the elderly, so that the vast majority of elderly people can share the fruits of development and enjoy a happy old age.
The silver-hair economy is connected to both people's livelihood and industry. With the continuous improvement and upgrading of the needs of the elderly, the silver-hair economy will inevitably promote the formation of a higher-level dynamic balance where demand drives supply and supply creates demand. This "sunset red" will inject lasting impetus into the all-round expansion of domestic demand and shine even more brilliantly in the construction of Chinese-style modernization. (Source: Qiushi.cn)
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