Asia Is Building a Bolder Silver Economy

By Michael Hodin

In an aging world, economic prosperity depends on how well and how widely we can achieve a positive vision for longevity.

That was the takeaway from the recent ASEAN Summit in Manila, where the theme was “Unlocking the Silver Economy,” with valuable lessons for governments, companies, and societies everywhere. East and Southeast Asia are natural leaders for this conversation — with countries like Japan and Korea that are already “super-aging” and those like Vietnam and Thailand that are navigating some of the fastest aging transitions in the world.

That’s why it was so encouraging to hear how the idea of the silver economy has grown and evolved even just in the past year. Policymakers now recognize that a dynamic economy and a vibrant society will take a much more expansive view of what’s possible for older workers, healthy aging, multi-generational communities, and long lives. Because when 20%, 30%, or even 40% of your population will be over 60, you need new models, strategies, and ways of thinking.

That is the great strength of the silver economy, which reconceives aging not as an economic weakness but as an economic engine. While the idea originally focused on older consumers’ spending (a huge factor, to be sure, valued at $17 trillion and counting), leaders are now also seeing the important role of older people’s income, savings, assets, labor market contributions, and overall value to their families and communities.

This big-picture, capital-S Silver Economy better reflects the true size of the opportunity — and it also reveals more levers, across more sectors of society, for a healthier, wealthier, and yes, older, future.

The Silver Economy is many things at once, all reinforcing each other, all drawing on the modern miracle of longevity. It’s not older consumption vs. older contributions — it’s both. It’s not public policy vs. company strategy — it’s both. It’s not AI vs. aging — it’s both. It’s all of those things and more.

Unlike grim prognostications from the past, the ASEAN Summit shows that this aging future can be collaborative, vibrant, exciting, and technology-rich.

Innovation has a major role to play. From a Korean “smart farming” initiative that uses IoT to support older farmers, to start-ups scaling AI for smart care in Singapore, the Silver Economy brings high-tech advances to augment the knowledge and capabilities of older workers, while also powering new models of predictive, preventive care. It’s these kinds of advances that, while not yet widely discussed in the AI boom, may actually become the most important value of AI, robotics, drones, autonomous vehicles, and other technologies.

The innovation theme also ties to growing cross-sector collaboration. In Thailand, the Board of Investment is creating incentives for key segments like leisure, aging tech, healthcare, and senior-tailored real estate, while the National Innovation Agency and Thailand Science Research Innovation grants support digital health and smart-home solutions for seniors. Or consider Viet Nam, where a new law to enable a healthier and more active aging is explicitly highlighting the prominent and powerful role of their silver economy.

The expertise, perspectives, and skills of an aging workforce are another important area with ongoing advances. If older consumers account for north of 40% of spending, it stands to reason that companies need older employees guiding strategy, product development, marketing, customer service, and other key areas. Not as a handout or feel-good story, but as an urgent strategic necessity and competitive advantage in the marketplace.

All of these themes were front-and-center at the ASEAN Summit, with momentum that now carries forward globally. Europe is the oldest region in the world. Latin America is on course for rapid aging in the years ahead. The United States is navigating an historic demographic shift, which will reshape its economy, society, and communities.

In short, we all have a stake in the Silver Economy, not least society’s like today’s Super-Ageing Japan and the dramatically aging all across the UK and Europe. It’s why every company needs an aging strategy, every country needs an aging policy, and every community needs an aging ground-game. The scale of the shift can feel daunting, but it can also be a great source of strength. Lessons, examples, and innovations are evolving, providing new models to guide how we plan and seize the potential ahead.

Aging is the most consequential trend of our time, from which we can all benefit. Aging as a driver of innovation, enterprise and economic growth –If we “Unlock our Global Silver Economy”.

The Global Coalition on Aging looks forward to continuing the conversation at the Silver Economy Forum, in Kuala Lumpur, on November 11–12. Because the Silver Economy is now bigger, bolder, and richer than ever before — but we can still achieve even more by committing to the full potential showcased in Asia and around the world.