Population ageing is poised to become one of the most significant social transformations of the twenty-first century, with profound implications for the goods and services offered today across all sectors of society.

As the standard of living increases and technology and medicine continues to improve, people are living longer and more bountiful lives. The global population is predicted to increase by two billion in the next 30 years. Population ageing is a global phenomenon and, combined with decreasing global fertility rates as people have fewer children later in life, the structure of the population is set to shift significantly. By 2050, it is predicted that the global population over 60s will reach 2.1 billion, compared to the 901 million reported in 2015.

The Global Life Sciences Team and Global Sustainable Equity Team explore some of the biggest economic and societal opportunities and challenges related to today’s growing and ageing population. As societal and cultural changes accompany projected population growth, how will you take into account issues such as age, gender, race, or inequality when investing? Additional goods and services need to be considered, especially in health care services.

Global population pyramid

The population pyramids below illustrate a dramatic forecasted shift in the distribution of age globally over a 100 year span from 2000 to 2100.

Source: populationpyramid.net as at 31 May 2020. For illustrative purposes only.