China’s Silver Economy: How Brands Can Win the Trillion-RMB “Silver Hair” Consumption Opportunity

How ageing, policy tailwinds, and digital adoption are unlocking new demand across smart eldercare, mobility, health, and everyday convenience

China’s Silver Generation

China’s silver economy is entering its breakout decade as a “new silver” cohort arrives with stronger spending power and more modern consumption attitudes. China already has 310 million people aged 60+ (22% of the population), and the large 1962–1975 birth cohorts are expected to retire in significant numbers over the next 5–10 years, rapidly expanding the addressable market.

As wealth has accumulated and consumption attitudes have modernised across successive cohorts, China’s new silver generation is demonstrating higher willingness to spend, reinforcing long-term growth momentum across lifestyle upgrades, health, mobility, and convenience. At the same time, the care burden is rising: CHARLS-based estimates put the disabled older population at ~46.54 million (2021–2023), with disability-related economic costs at ~RMB 1.35 trillion (~1.07% of 2023 GDP).

For brands, this signals both upgrading demand and accelerating policy support.

Policy is turning “care” into real purchasing power

What is changing is not only the size of the senior population, but the institutional support behind it. Long-term care insurance has expanded through pilots (covering tens of cities and a large participant base), and local support policies are increasingly designed like consumption enablers, including service vouchers for institutional care and home visits.

For marketers, the implication is clear: the silver economy is becoming a structured market, shaped by standards, reimbursement logic, and community-based delivery. Growth will be driven by a hybrid of:

• B2C retail and e-commerce

• B2B2C partnerships with care institutions, community services, insurers, and local programmes

• Product + service bundles where aftercare is part of the value proposition

Seniors are online, discovery has moved to short video, messaging, and mobile commerce

The stereotype of older consumers as “offline” is quickly outdated. Senior internet adoption has climbed sharply over the past several years, and mobile shopping penetration is now mainstream among older users. Short video, in particular, has become a dominant content format because it is low friction and easy to understand, which makes it one of the most powerful channels for education-led conversion.

What this means for brand building:

• Seniors require not only awareness, but also the confidence to act on it

• Conversion is driven by clarity (how it works), trust (proof and guarantees), and support (help when needed)

• “Online + nearby” matters: convenient delivery is good; local service and human assistance are often what seals the decision

Where the growth is concentrating: high-potential silver consumption tracks

1) Smart eldercare and care robots: from concept to pilots

China’s smart eldercare industry is entering a policy-supported growth phase. The market of smart eldercare robot has expanded from RMB 3.8 billion in 2020 to RMB 6.6 billion in 2023.This category is being defined around supporting daily living, health monitoring, and independence, with the broader goal of reducing the burden on families and society.

For brands, this positions smart eldercare as dignity + safety + less hassle (not “replacement care”). The underlying value lies in ecosystem building, integrating data, aftercare, and interoperability rather than one-off device sales.

2) Smart Toilets and Home Upgrades: A Daily-Life Revolution

China is the world’s largest producer and consumer: in 2024, it produced 13.72 million smart toilets (+8.5% YoY), representing ~72% of global output, while domestic sales reached 12.21 million units (+7.3% YoY). Smart toilets are a standout category at the intersection of quality-of-life upgrades and care support, position as a premium yet highly practical household improvement.

For brands, this signals a major opportunity to build bundled offerings around safety, hygiene and convenience, and position products as part of a healthy ageing lifestyle, not just a functional installation.

3) Senior Mobility Devices: Redefining Everyday Independence

Older adults’ daily travel is typically local and frequent, including errands, community activities, healthcare visits, family support. More than 75% of seniors’ daily travel in China is within 5km, and 21% is under 1km. That creates structural demand for short-range mobility solutions that are easy to operate and safe in real environments (thresholds, slopes, uneven pavements).

For brands, the mobility segment offers a compelling way to expand into urban micro-mobility, combining transportation, safety tech, and lifestyle branding.

4) Companionship Consumption: Pets as Emotional Infrastructure

Beyond physical needs, the silver economy is increasingly driven by emotional wellbeing. Empty-nest households and changing family structures are contributing to pet ownership among older adults, with pets acting as companionship, routine, and social catalyst.

For brands, the value is twofold: high-frequency replenishment categories that build habit, and community and service layers that improve stickiness, from vet partnerships to membership-based care plans.

5) Convenience Retail and Prepared Food: Making Daily Life Easier

Daily convenience is a major unlock. China’s convenience retail market topped RMB 424.8BN in 2023, with ~17.4% CAGR over 9 years. Prepared foods (预制菜) are seeing strong senior uptake, with 2021 GMV up 156% YoY among older consumers, matching older consumers’ demand for easy, portion-controlled, balanced meals.

For brands, this is a direct route into everyday brand intimacy: building consistent exposure and habit through trusted, nearby retail and delivery touchpoints.

6) Health Supplements and Nutrition: From Treatment to Preventive Wellness

As health awareness rises, supplements are becoming part of daily routines, especially when positioned around prevention, energy, immunity, and mobility support. The market has also become more regulated and trust-led post-2019, and it grew at a ~9.5% CAGR from 2020 to 2023, with the market projected to reach RMB 360BN by 2025.

For brands in nutrition, functional foods, and healthcare, differentiation lies in formulation transparency and content-driven trust building, showing measurable outcomes, not just claims. The opportunity extends beyond vitamins into personalised health solutions such as probiotics, collagen, and joint-care formats.

7) Adult Incontinence: The Underserved High-Need Market

Adult incontinence is a high-need category with significant scale potential, yet it is often constrained by stigma and limited consumer education. China’s adult incontinence market was ~RMB 5.4BN in 2024, and although the 2019–2024 CAGR was -2.2%, rising ageing, improving acceptance, and changing usage norms point to structural growth upside, with increasing potential for category consolidation (China CR3 <30%, CR10 <40% in 2023).

Leading players are already introducing innovations such as ultra-thin materials, breathable fabrics, and more, shifting perceptions from “medical supply” to “daily comfort wear.” For brands, this represents both scale and loyalty potential, consumers in this category are typically repeat buyers with low switching rates.

8) Integrated Medical + Eldercare Services: The Service Backbone

As households become smaller and care responsibilities intensify, integrated “medical + care” models are gaining relevance. This is where services (screening, rehab, monitoring, home visits) connect with devices and consumables, creating recurring revenue models and stronger lifetime value.

For service providers and healthcare innovators, this is the platform layer connecting all other silver economy categories, enabling data continuity, subscription models, and bundled coverage through public or private insurance systems.

How to Win Silver Economy in China

Here are the moves that consistently unlock conversion and repeat purchase:

1. Design for ease, not “senior style”

   Large fonts, fewer steps, intuitive interfaces, ergonomic handling, without making products look “medical” or stigmatised.

   
   

2. Lead with trust, not hype

   Seniors (and their families) buy certainty: proof, demonstrations, warranties, service commitments, and clear explanations.

   
   

3. Bundle product + service

   Installation, training, maintenance, and a human help channel often matter as much as features.

   
   

4. Go omnichannel with “online + nearby”

   Short video and mobile commerce drive discovery; local support drives confidence.

   
   

5. Partner into policy-enabled routes

   Where subsidies, insurance pilots, or community procurement exist, the fastest scale can come from B2B2C, not purely DTC.

What to watch next

Policy signals suggest the next phase is about upgrading supply to match demand, through standards, pilots, and clearer quality expectations. As that happens, category competition will shift from “who shouts loudest” to “who delivers safest, simplest, most reliable experiences”.

China’s silver economy is no longer niche. It is a mass-market transformation powered by ageing, digital adoption, and structural policy support. Brands that win will make ageing feel easier, safer, more connected, and more dignified, and will build the service and partnership infrastructure to deliver that promise at scale.

Reach out to us if you are a brand or platform looking to capture China’s silver economy with clear category insights and an actionable growth strategy.