LONGEVITY 2036
Over-60s spend $40 trillion. BBL and cosmetic Botox excluded.
Key figures
Over-60s consumer spending 2026: $19 trillion, 27% of all consumer spending worldwide.
Consensus by 2036: $34 trillion (World Data Lab, nielseniq).
My call: $40 trillion.
Great Wealth Transfer: $124 trillion by 2048, $54 trillion of it goes to a spouse first (cerulli).
Products and services built for older adults: $4.5 trillion today, nearly $9 trillion by 2036 at 7% a year.
People aged 60+: 1.4 billion by 2030, 2.1 billion by 2050.
BBL and cosmetic Botox are not longevity. That is beauty. A spa weekend is not longevity. That is wellness. Longevity is healthspan: more years strong, sharp, mobile and independent.
The demand base is already enormous. People over 60 spend roughly $19 trillion in 2026, 27% of all consumer spending worldwide. World Data Lab counts $34 trillion by 2036. I call that the floor. My call: $40 trillion. The reason is the Great Wealth Transfer: $124 trillion moves by 2048, and $54 trillion of it lands first with a surviving spouse, someone over 60 who lives longer and spends it on staying strong. By 2030, 1.4 billion people are over 60. By 2050, 2.1 billion.
That does not make every dollar longevity tech. It does make aging the biggest consumer shift hiding in plain sight. The winners sell more healthy years: prevention, biomarkers, personalized diagnostics, AI that steers you to the right doctor, age-tech, home adaptation and services that keep people independent.
My call: by 2036 longevity is a subscription business. I call it Longevity-as-a-Service: your health data, prevention, care steering and the services that keep you living at home, sold as an always-on plan, not an annual check-up. The market built for older adults is $4.5 trillion today, growing 7% a year. Hold that rate and it reaches nearly $9 trillion by 2036. The subscription half of it is where the margin lives. First the wealthy, then employers, then insurers.
The warning: many longevity companies sell tests, supplements and optimism faster than they prove outcomes. The winners need clinical evidence, trusted data handling and insurers willing to pay.
Cancer treatment damaged part of my immune system. I do not forecast this from the sidelines. I live the trend.
