South Korea wakes up to the next K-wave: The 'silver economy'

After pop culture, goods and services for the elderly tipped to be next Korean big thing

Choi Soon-hwa became a runway model in her 70s and hopes her example can inspire other elderly people to pursue their passions, with the 65-and-over population set to rocket to 40% of all South Koreans by 2050. (Photo by Ahn Seong-bok)

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SEOUL -- A week before her 81st birthday, Choi Soon-hwa is the fresh face of a late-blooming business sector in South Korea -- the "silver economy" that analysts expect to surge to more than $120 billion in value by 2030 while the country's fertility rate plummets.

After an adulthood spent toiling in low-wage factory jobs between spells raising two children and then caring for her three grandchildren, a eureka moment came for Choi when she was 72 years old and working as a nursing assistant.

A patient told her she looked like a model and that she should be strutting runways instead of changing bedpans. The comment reignited an old ambition and set Choi on a new, more glamorous path. She now appears in fashion spreads in magazines and at runway shows around the country, and just last month took part in the beauty pageant to pick South Korea's contestant for Miss Universe after organizers scrapped a previously imposed upper age limit.

"When I was young, I had dreams, but I thought they were impossible," Choi told Nikkei Asia during a recent interview. "Back then, people just accepted life the way it was and didn't consider our own egos much."

Choi Soon-hwa takes part in the 2024 Miss Universe Korea pageant in Seoul on Sept. 30.   © AP

Now, she said, "When I walk down a runway at a fashion show and I see audience members on both sides of me, looking up at me, I think, 'Wow, this is really me!' Even though I'm old, I can do this!"

Choi's public profile is a vivid representation of South Korea's burgeoning silver economy, as more businesses wake up to the possibilities of marketing a broad range of goods and services to elderly people, who, like elsewhere in the region, make up a growing portion of the population.

Research by Kim Young-sun, director of the Kyunghee University Institute of AgeTech & Silver Economy, forecasts that the market for businesses aimed at the elderly will be worth 168 trillion won ($128 billion) by 2030, more than doubling from 72.8 trillion won in 2020.

The development of elderly-focused commerce has so far lagged behind neighboring countries, Kim said. "We can see that South Korea's silver economy has huge latent potential. But compared to other Asian countries, the market is still at a very low level. For example, if you look at China, the market there is very developed."

China's silver economy is already worth around $966 billion, according to an estimate by Chinese financial services group Ping An. Meanwhile World Data Lab, a consumer research agency, estimates Japan's silver economy will grow to $1.1 trillion by 2030.

Kim points to leisure activities such as tourism and vocational training for seniors looking to learn new job skills, as well as legal and financial consultation, as imminent growth areas in the silver economy. "Right now there is a lot of state R&D and other efforts going into the market, and there will be significant development in the future," she said.

Becoming a model is just the latest evolution in Choi's eventful life, an arc that observers say resonates with many older folks like her, who grew up in a poor, war-ravaged land that eventually emerged from dictatorship to become a well-off world leader in pop culture and technology within a few decades.

She was born in 1943 in an industrial city on South Korea's southern coast, had her schooling disrupted by the outbreak of the Korean War in the early 1950s, and amid the economic devastation wrought by the conflict, went to work at a textile factory in her teens to help support her family.

"Ms. Choi represents a very resilient kind of Korean woman," said Yang Sun-mook, a promoter of senior-related businesses and events. "She went through wars and dictatorships and destitution and overcame all kinds of difficulties. There are a lot of Korean women like that."

K-pop group ITZY performs in Gangnam, Seoul, on Sept. 29. Silver economy promoters say products and services for the elderly could be exported, echoing the popularity overseas of South Korean pop and TV dramas.   © AP

"There's a lot of female seniors who spent all their youth and middle ages sacrificing for the family and rearing children, serving their husbands. Then they get to their 60s and ask, 'What now?' They still have high hopes, they believe there is a lot they can do."

Yang believes silver modeling can be a "spearhead" for other forms of commercial activity, and that as South Korea's silver sector develops, the country's companies can work toward exports of elderly care products, such as health supplements and skin care, the same way they have with pop music, TV dramas, electronics and food.

A number of startups catering to older consumers have popped up in recent years, such as Athler, an online fashion platform for older men embarking on their "second life" after middle age. Also, lifestyle platform Onew has attracted investments in its services that connect seniors with hobbies and community.

Shinhan Life Care, a subsidiary of the bank of the same name, recently announced a deal with the construction branch of Hyundai to build housing and care facilities for the elderly.

Another factor behind the development of the silver economy: South Korea, with a population of nearly 52 million, now has one of the world's lowest fertility rates as more and more young people opt to remain childless amid economic pressures such as rising housing prices and fierce competition for stable, well-paid jobs at large companies.

An elderly woman walks past diners at a food stall at Gwangjang Market in Seoul: By 2050, 40% of the South Korean population is forecast to be 65 or older. ©

In 2023, the rate hit an all-time low of 0.72 births per woman, far below the replacement level of 2.1 births that a population needs to remain stable.

Elderly people are a growing share of the population -- and a growing focus for businesses looking to adapt to demographic trends. The national statistics agency projects that elderly people -- defined as those aged 65 and older -- will account for 30.9% of the country's population by 2036, then rise to 40% by 2050. The proportion was 17.4% in 2022.

Companies have had to pivot toward an awareness of older people as active consumers, said Park Yeong-ran, a professor in the department of silver industry at Kangnam University.

"Twenty years ago, companies were focused on providing care for dependent elderly people. Now the market is shifting toward catering to people who pursue their own new lifestyles in their elder years," Park told Nikkei.

To be sure, Park cautioned, South Korea still has a retirement age of around 60 -- earlier than in other developed economies -- and many among the elderly have only meager pensions and limited spending power.

"Many people still need to work after their retirement, just because they need an income. People are living longer and not many are financially ready to retire and just enjoy their lives. The market is not yet as lucrative as some companies expect," she said.

Official data show that as of 2022, 36% of people aged 65 and older were employed, up 6.1% from 10 years earlier and the highest elderly employment rate among any OECD member country. However, only 20.7% of those working old folks said they were satisfied with their income.

Ahead of turning 81 on Friday, Choi says the message she wishes to send to peers in her own country, as well as abroad, is that the key to ongoing vitality is finding self-confidence in one's twilight years.

"By pursuing modeling in my late years, I became truly independent," she said.

"Gradually I let go of all my old habits, the kind of habits most Korean parents have of constantly worrying about my children and feeling like I need to spend all my money on them."

By STEVEN BOROWIEC, Nikkei staff writer