Demography & Consumption in China

'An aspect of the changing age structure of China’s population that remains under-researched is its impact on patterns of demand and consumption. If income growth has been the main determinant of consumer demand in recent years, the changing age structure has also been a shaping factor. In the wake of the one-child policy, the most privileged consumer group to have emerged in China in recent years has been young urban adults, who have acquired the consumer aspirations to match the highly disposable incomes which they have come to enjoy.

But China’s elderly are also set to become an increasingly important market force in the coming years. The importance of this group as a source of demand has been widely recognized in developed countries, but has received much less attention in China. Although in the short term China’s elderly are unlikely to emulate the lifestyles and consumption patterns of their counterparts in developed countries, in the longer term, as social welfare coverage expands, they will become a more significant source of consumption demand.'

Read 'China's Demographic Dilemma' here.