Quick look! "Shanghai Silver Economy Development Report (2025)" released: One report to understand the new track of elderly care.

Quick look! “Shanghai Silver Economy Development Report (2025)“ released: One report to understand the new track of elderly care.

Developing the silver economy is an important measure to actively respond to population aging, improve the well-being of the elderly, and cultivate new engines of economic growth. In 2025, Shanghai, based on the reality of ‘big city elderly care’, actively promotes the coordinated development of aging-related undertakings and industries. To systematically summarize industrial development practices and accurately judge industry development trends, the Office of the Municipal Special Class for Promoting Silver Economy Development has compiled the ‘Shanghai Silver Economy Development Report (2025)’, comprehensively reviewing and analyzing the current status, highlights, and trends of industrial development in 2025, providing systematic action guidance for the standardized, large-scale, and high-quality development of the city’s silver economy.

Silver Economy Statistical Monitoring

Two-wheel drive of scientific classification and market assessment

✨ Core Achievements

1. Issued statistical classification standards for silver economy

Formulated the ‘Shanghai Silver Economy Statistical Classification (2025)’, dividing into10 major categories, 39 medium categories, 79 minor categories. Innovatively distinguishes between ‘elderly group’ (aged 60 and above) and ‘pre-elderly group’ (aged 50-59), incorporating content related to pre-elderly economy, covering areas such as elderly financial services, anti-aging consumption, sports and fitness, rehabilitation therapy, etc.

2. Conducted large-scale market assessment of consumer demand

Through10,187questionnaires and13 sessionsin-depth interviews formed the survey report. The report shows that silver consumption demand presents significant stratification characteristics. The average monthly daily expenditure of the silver group is 3,597 yuan. Different age groups show a progressive feature of ‘experience – planning – essential needs – care’; different income groups show a stratification of ‘basic – diverse – high-end’. Entertainment, social interaction, and tourism (31.7%) and health preservation (21.7%) are the areas with the strongest willingness to increase spending, forming the core engine of silver economy growth.

📌 Development Highlights

Fills the gap in local silver economy statistical standards, innovatively incorporates pre-elderly group accounting, providing pioneering exploration for the whole country; systematically reveals structural characteristics of the consumer market, providing data support for precise policy implementation.

By constructing scientific statistical classification and systematic market monitoring mechanisms, Shanghai accurately grasps the scale and trends of silver consumption, consolidating the data foundation for high-quality development of the silver economy.

Elderly Care Technology

Technology empowerment, reshaping a new ecology of smart elderly care

✨ Core Achievements

1. The first professional park in China was established

The city’s first elderly care technology professional industrial park was inaugurated and put into operation, with a planned area of1.3square kilometers. As of the end of 2025, it has attracted70enterprises to register and settle, with incubators and R&D testing platforms fully operational, and occupancy rateover 90%, forming a full-chain innovation ecosystem from R&D, verification to commercial deployment.

2. Breakthroughs in multiple technical products

Non-wearable devices such as millimeter-wave radar for unobtrusive monitoring and fall detection eye-care lamps are widely used in nursing homes; smart anti-shake wristbands and lightweight exoskeleton robots have been included in the rehabilitation equipment rental catalog; semi-humanoid elderly care nursing robots are expected to be officially launched in the market in 2026.

3. Efficient supply-demand matching mechanism

Implemented the Silver Technology Partnership Program, jointly investing 100 million yuan with companies like Tencent over three years to support innovative projects. In 2025, 15 high-quality enterprises were selected from 189 projects nationwide to match with elderly care scenarios; 2 batches totaling 20 smart elderly care application scenario requirements were released, accurately guiding R&D directions.

📌 Development Highlights

Issued the ‘Shanghai Action Plan for Promoting Innovation and Development of Elderly Care Technology (2024-2027)’, clarifying three major research directions including smart sensing and artificial intelligence; optimized the medical device approval process, shortening the registration cycle for Class II elderly medical rehabilitation devices to 6 months, with 12 new products approved for market in 2025.

As the core innovation engine of the silver economy, Shanghai leverages its scientific and technological advantages to create a development pattern of elderly care technology featuring ‘policy guidance, carrier aggregation, technology leadership, and diverse scenarios’.

Rehabilitation Aids

Refined products, solidify the foundation for inclusive livelihood

✨ Core Achievements

1. Stable growth in industrial scale

In 2025, the total revenue of the city’s rehabilitation aids industry reached a new high, exceeding15.036 billion yuan, the number of main enterprises increased to610 companies, high-tech enterprises reached138 companies, specialized and new enterprises82 companies, the industrial echelon continues to grow.

2. Strong innovation and R&D capabilities

Patent applications in 202513527 groups, granted10246 groups, patent grant rate75.7%, personal medical assistive devices become the core track for technology transformation, annual patent transfers and licenses reached233 groups, year-on-year growth21.4%.

3. Two-way improvement of policies and services

Issued a three-year action plan, established a multi-department joint meeting system; promoted products into communities, pharmacies, and medical institutions; the first batch of 3 application scenario demonstration sites were put into operation; explored high-end assistive devices included in community rental and long-term care insurance payment scope.

📌 Development Goals

By 2027, cultivate more than 10 platform-leading enterprises, create 10-15 application scenario demonstration bases, and push the industry towards high-end, intelligent, and green development.

Rehabilitation assistive devices are a necessary carrier for the rehabilitation care of the elderly. Shanghai has listed them as the core business form of the silver economy, with comprehensive upgrades in industrial scale, innovation capability, and service network.

Elderly-friendly renovation

Building a livable home, solving the problem of ‘people getting old and houses getting old’

✨ Core Achievements

1. Significant results in market-oriented transformation

Implemented the ‘government guidance, market operation’ model. In 2025, the newly signed renovation contracts reached approximately10,000 households, the average contract amount increased to 6,250 yuan, the highest single contract reached 130,000 yuan, and the demand for quality renovation among the elderly continued to be released.

2. Comprehensive and inclusive subsidy policies

Upgraded the tiered subsidy system,with a maximum subsidy of 5,000 yuan, covering multiple difficult groups such as subsistence allowance, elderly, and disabled, with subsidy ratios of 50%-100%; pioneeredmultiple applications within a three-year cyclemodel, driving a cumulative decoration consumption of over 62 million yuan.

3. Diverse and rich service supply

Recruited 80 diversified service providers, covering state-owned, private, and foreign-funded enterprises; relying on ‘One Online Platform’ to achieve full-process online handling; created diverse experience scenarios such as mobile showrooms, community experience points, and bank showrooms; conducted 72 community promotion activities throughout the year.

📌 Featured Models

Major service providers innovate service forms: mobile elderly-friendly experience cars go deep into streets, TV shopping launches integrated renovation packages, quick-install packages improve contract conversion rates, meeting the renovation needs of different families comprehensively.

Shanghai’s registered elderly population aged 60 and above reached 5.8438 million, with over 90% of the elderly choosing home-based care. Home elderly-friendly renovation has become a key livelihood project to ensure ‘aging in place’.

Silver Consumption

Refreshing scenes, activating new vitality of hundreds of billions of consumption

✨ Core Achievements

1. Huge market potential

In 2024, Shanghai’s silver consumption scale reached445.1 billion yuanAccording to growth projections, by 2030 the consumption scale will rise to 531.5-706.3 billion yuan, showing strong growth potential.

2. Featured consumption scenarios gaining popularity

Shanghai Senior Expo:In 2025, transaction volume reached3.3 billion yuanwith significant increases in exhibition area, visitors, and exhibitors, becoming a globally renowned event for the elderly care industry;Silver Life Festival:Linking multiple commercial districts citywide, retail transaction volume grew300%;Silver-friendly scenario:Created the city’s first silver-friendly shopping mall, multiple silver specialty stores and innovative product experience pavilions, building a daily elderly-adaptive consumption network.

3. Significant subsidy leveraging effect

Including28 categoriesof elderly-adaptive products into trade-in subsidies, cumulative sales1.87 billion yuanwith a subsidy-to-sales ratio of 1:4, far above the national average, effectively lowering consumption thresholds.

📌 Consumption Trends

The “new retiree group” has become the main consumption force, with booming demand for quality consumption such as cultural tourism, health preservation, and smart products. Intergenerational filial consumption and pre-retirement consumption are rising simultaneously, continuously enriching the silver consumption ecosystem.

From “saving for old age” to “enjoying retirement,” Shanghai’s silver consumption has completed the transition from basic needs to quality enjoyment, becoming a new growth pole for urban consumption.

Elderly Financial Services

Deepening services to build a full-cycle protection system

✨ Core Achievements

1. Multi-department collaboration to build policy framework

Led by the Shanghai Headquarters of the People’s Bank of China, ten departments established a collaborative working mechanism, issued special work plans, and set up a service quality evaluation system for financial institutions, comprehensively regulating the development of elderly financial services.

2. Precise empowerment of industry financing

Launched the special “batch loan” guarantee for elderly care, and in 2025 expanded policy coverage to enterprises participating in the trade-in of elderly-adaptive products, rehabilitation assistive device rental service providers, and elderly care technology companies, with new loans of404 million yuanwith cumulative disbursement by year-end reaching533 million yuan.

3. Innovative iteration of products and services

Launched customized financial products such as elderly-adaptive deposits and specific drug insurance for Alzheimer’s disease; explored models like “housing for pension” and “finance + elderly care community”; innovated“Designated guardianship + elderly care service trust + elderly care services”ecosystem, covering all needs of elderly savings, protection, care, and property inheritance.

📌 Supporting Activities

Launched the “Shanghai Financial Support for Silver Economy Service Season,” released the elderly financial service manual and the “Le Ling Shanghai” platform, and collaborated with multiple banks and insurance institutions to offer elderly-friendly financial services.

Leveraging its advantages as an international financial center, Shanghai has built a trinity elderly financial system of “pension + industry + services,” injecting capital vitality into the silver economy.

Silver Tourism

Happy travel for seniors, enriching spiritual and cultural life

✨ Core Achievements

1. Policy system leading nationwide

Issued the first special implementation plan for silver tourism nationwide, incorporated silver tourism into the three-year action plan for high-quality development of tourism, and specified 17 concrete measures.

2. Rich and Diverse Product Routes

Cumulatively launched122 demonstration products and 81 boutique routes, covering categories such as health and wellness tours, cruise tours, rural tours, and red tours, following the design principle of ‘slow pace, less travel, more experience’; launched 50 regional themed routes connecting classic landmarks and popular check-in spots.

3. Comprehensive Upgrade of Service Guarantee

Promoted age-friendly renovations at scenic spots and transportation hubs, set up silver tourism zones and community registration points; supported enterprises in building age-friendly digital platforms and launching ‘senior-friendly’ service modules; supported the cultivation of ‘silver companion’ special services, and launched a special silver version of the urban tourism card.

📌 Operation Model

Established a mechanism of ‘government guidance, enterprise participation, community collaboration’, regularly carried out ‘tourism services into communities’, and promoted nationwide through cultural tourism exhibitions, Respect for the Aged Month, etc., achieving both local deep cultivation and radiation to the Yangtze River Delta region.

Closely following the transformation trend from ‘elderly care’ to ‘elderly enjoyment’, Shanghai created an exclusive brand ‘Happy Age, Happy Travel’, pushing silver tourism towards professionalization, quality, and standardization.

In 2025, Shanghai’s silver economy has formed a good momentum with strong policy coordination, solid industrial foundation, high-quality service supply, and full market vitality. In the future, Shanghai will continue to improve the development ecology of the silver economy, strive to build a demonstration benchmark for high-quality development of the silver economy, and actively help address population aging.

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Quick look! “Shanghai Silver Economy Development Report (2025)“ released: One report to understand the new track of elderly care.

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