The world is not only getting richer but also much older. The power of the “silver economy” is now also affecting emerging markets, including Latin America (LATAM), which is slowly catching up with the USA, the uncontested global leader in silver economy spending. For example, in Mexico, 20 percent of the population will be over the age of 65 by 2050. In the USA, seniors (65+) will outnumber children (under 18)for the first time in history in 2034.
Building off our income and demographic forecasting tool MarketPro, we can now predict the future growth of the US and LATAM’s silver economies. According to our latest estimates, the number of people aged 60 and over in the US is expected to grow slowly, while in LATAM, it is expected to grow faster. The size of the American silver economy is expected to experience one of the smaller growths in headcounts in North and LATAM over the next decade (22% from 78 million to 95 million) compared to 41% in LATAM (from 83 million to 117 million). However, it is important to note that Americans are currently almost half of all seniors in North and LATAM combined.
By 2030, the total annual spending power (in 2011 PPP $) by people aged 60 and over in the Americas is expected to increase from $4.6 trillion to $6.3 trillion (37%), while the number of people in this age bracket is expected to increase 31% to 223 million.
American Domination
Even though the United States silver economy cohort represents slightly less than half of all seniors in North and Latin America, the country currently controls 74% of all spending power ($3.4 trillion out of $4.6 trillion) in the Americas. This is forecasted to continue over the next decade, although the United States’ share is expected to decrease from 74% today to 70% by 2030.
Top 5 Silver Economies in LATAM in 2030
The top 5 LATAM Silver Economies in 2030 are projected to be the same as the ones now. However, the silver economy in LATAM is expected to grow much faster than the US cohort over the next decade. For example, the Silver Economy in Brazil is expected to grow 60% from $358 billion to $572 billion, while Colombia’s Silvery Economy is expected to increase 82% from $76 billion to $138 billion by 2030.
