India’s Silver Economy in 2026: Older Consumers — How Many, What They Earn, Save and Spend, and What Businesses Miss

India is still counted as a young country, and most of its marketing is built that way. But the number of Indians over 60 is growing far faster than the population as a whole, and by the middle of the century one in five will be in that group. They are not one market. Most of them are women, many of whom have never had an income of their own; a smaller group holds a very large pool of bank deposits. This report sets out what official data and surveys show about older Indians as consumers — how many there are, what they earn, save and spend, how they shop and travel — and where the numbers run out.

1. How many older Indians there are, and will be

India has not run a census since 2011, so the current count of older people comes from official projections. The Technical Group on Population Projections put the population aged 60 and over at 162.8 million in 2026, or 11.4 per cent of all Indians.^[3] The same projections rise to 193.4 million, 13.1 per cent, in 2031 and 227.4 million, 14.9 per cent, in 2036.^[3] That is about 65 million more people aged 60 and over in ten years (derived from the two projections).^[3] The government’s own summary rounds the 2036 figure to around 230 million, about 15% of the population.^[4]

The longer view comes from United Nations projections used in the India Ageing Report 2023. It counted 149 million people aged 60 and over in 2022, about 10.5 per cent of the population.^[1] By 2050 their share is projected to double to 20.8 per cent, or 347 million people.^[1] By the end of the century, older people are projected to be over 36 per cent of Indians.^[1]

The oldest group grows fastest. Between 2022 and 2050 India’s population is projected to grow by 18 per cent and its older population by 134 per cent.^[1] The number of people aged 80+ is projected to grow 279 percent over the same period, most of them women.^[1]

Ageing is uneven across states. Kerala’s older population is projected to go from 13% of its people in 2011 to 23% by 2036, while Uttar Pradesh goes from 7% to 12%.^[4] For a business, that makes the south the first large older market, not the last.

2. An older population that is mostly women

Older India is female India. There were about 138 million people aged 60 and over in 2021, of whom 71 million were women and 67 million men.^[2] That makes women about 51 per cent of the older population (derived from the two counts).^[2] The sex ratio among people aged 60 and above is 1,065 women per 1,000 men, and it is projected to reach 1,078 women per 1,000 men by 2031.^[5]

Women live longer after 60. At that age an Indian can expect to live another 18.3 years on average: 19 years for women and 17.5 for men.^[1] The result is long widowhood. In the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India, 54 per cent of women over 60 were widowed, against 16 per cent of men.^[1] Among people over 80, 87 per cent of women were widowed, against 37 per cent of men.^[1]

More older women live alone: 8.6 per cent, against 2.5 per cent of older men.^[1] Over 15 percent of older women in south India live alone.^[1] Education gaps are wide. Only 31.8 per cent of women aged 60-75 years and 26.7 per cent of those above 75 can read and write, while over 60 per cent of older men can.^[5]

3. Income: who has money of their own

Most older Indians do not have a steady income of their own, and older women far less often than men. In the ageing survey, 50.9 per cent of men over 60 were working, against 22 per cent of women.^[1] The work they do is mostly informal: farm work, own-account work and agricultural labour, rarely a salary.^[1]

The income gap is sharper than the work gap. Only 17.4 per cent of older women were working and earning, against 43.3 per cent of men.^[1] About 33 per cent of older women had never worked and had no income at all.^[1] Among older women, 27.4 per cent relied only on a social pension and 1.7 per cent drew a pension from past work.^[1] Among older men, nearly 11 per cent drew a work pension and 16.3 per cent relied only on a social pension.^[1] Across both sexes, 18.7 per cent of older Indians had no income of any kind, and more than two-fifths were in the poorest wealth quintile.^[1]

Economic dependence follows. In the government’s 2017-18 health survey, about 70 per cent of older people depended on others for their day-to-day maintenance.^[2] Only 10 per cent of older women in rural areas and 11 per cent in urban areas were economically independent, against 48 per cent and 57 per cent of older men.^[2] In HelpAge India’s 2025 urban survey, 45 per cent of older people were financially independent, 38 per cent partly dependent and 15 per cent fully dependent.^[11]

Pensions cover few. NITI Aayog puts the share of older people without a pension at 78%.^[8] Even among those who worked in the organised sector, only 7.8 per cent of older women receive a pension, against 23.2 per cent of men.^[5] The national old-age pension reaches 221 lakh people, and the widow pension 67 lakh.^[9] The centre pays ₹200 a month to people aged 60 to 79 and ₹500 to those aged 80 and above.^[9] With state top-ups the average is around ₹1100 a month in many states.^[9] The centre’s ₹200 and ₹300 contributions have not changed since 2007 and 2009.^[5] The minimum pension for former private-sector employees under EPS-95 is ₹1000 a month.^[10]

Where older people have money, they do not always control it. In Agewell Foundation’s 2018 survey of 10,000 older people, 37.8 per cent made their own spending decisions, 31.7 per cent said younger family members often controlled their purchasing power, and 25.1 per cent said their spouse did.^[12] Women were far more likely to have no income: 14% of older women against 2% of older men.^[12]

4. Savings and deposits

At the other end of the distribution sits one of the largest pools of savings in the country. SBI Research estimated that senior-citizen term deposit accounts rose from around 4.1 crore in 2018 to close to 7.4 crore at the end of 2023.^[13] Their deposits rose about 150 per cent, from ₹13.724 lakh crore to ₹34.367 lakh crore.^[13] The average account held ₹4,63,472, and senior citizens’ share of all term deposit accounts rose to 30 per cent from 15 per cent.^[13]

Deposits are the default because they are safe and rewarded: banks pay seniors an extra 50 basis points.^[13] The Senior Citizens’ Savings Scheme held ₹1.62 lakh crore, and SBI estimated total interest earned by senior citizens at ₹2.7 lakh crore.^[13] The 2025-26 Budget doubled the limit for tax deducted at source on seniors’ interest from ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh.^[14]

The two pictures — deposits in the lakhs of crores, and a fifth of older people with no income — are both true. A deposit holder with a ₹4.6 lakh account and a widow on a ₹300 central pension are both “senior citizens”, and a business that treats them as one market will miss both.

5. What older households spend on

Households with older members spend slightly less per person than others. In the LASI survey, monthly consumption per person was ₹2,948 in households with someone aged 60 and above, against ₹3,001 in households without.^[7] Monthly income per person was ₹3,568 against ₹4,098.^[8] About half of household consumption goes on non-food items.^[7]

No official survey splits spending by the age of the spender, so the best view of what older people buy comes from surveys. In Agewell Foundation’s survey of 10,000 older people, those with an income spent 29.4 per cent of it on medical needs and 26.9 per cent on food and clothes for themselves and a spouse.^[12] A further 22.2 per cent went on family and social obligations, and 16.3 per cent was invested.^[12] NITI Aayog cites research that healthcare is about 31% of older people’s total spending.^[8]

Spending power is rising at the top. In the same Agewell survey, 85 per cent of older respondents said older people’s purchasing power had increased over the past decade.^[12] The spending that follows is not only on need. Agewell describes older consumers with money spending more on travel, leisure and their appearance, preferring to travel with family or friends.^[12]

6. Health: the largest line

Health is where older people spend most, and the newest data show why. In the 2025 national health survey, 43.9 per cent of people aged 60 and above reported an illness in the previous 15 days, the highest of any age group.^[15] The hospitalisation rate was highest in the age-group 60 years or more, at 8.1 per cent a year.^[15] The average out-of-pocket cost of a hospital stay, across all ages, was about ₹34,064.^[15]

For older households the burden is heavy. Out-of-pocket health spending takes 13% of household consumption in the LASI survey, and about 35% of households had catastrophic health spending — more than 10% of consumption.^[7] NITI Aayog found health-related expense the most common cause of debt in urban India, at 26%.^[8] It put the average out-of-pocket cost of an older person’s hospital stay at ₹8,028 in public facilities and ₹31,933 in private ones.^[8]

Insurance is catching up. Health insurance coverage across all ages reached about 47% in rural and about 44% in urban India in 2025.^[15] The older figure for seniors alone, from NITI Aayog, was 18%.^[8] Since late 2024, the Ayushman Bharat cover of ₹5 lakh a year has been open to 6 crore senior citizens aged 70 years and above, regardless of income.^[16] By 30 June 2026, 1.26 crore Ayushman Vay Vandana cards had been issued to people aged 70 and above.^[16] That is about 21 per cent of those eligible (derived).^[16] In private cover, the regulator now bars insurers from raising seniors’ premiums by more than 10% a year without approval, after hikes that had exceeded 30–40% in some cases.^[17]

7. How they shop: phones, the internet and trust

Most older Indians are not online. NITI Aayog cites survey data that only 13 % of people aged 60 or older have ever used the internet.^[8] It puts the share of older people who are digitally and computer illiterate at 85.8%.^[8] For older women the gap is wider: an Agewell survey found 95 percent of older women digitally illiterate, against 76.5 percent of older men.^[5]

HelpAge India’s 2025 survey of 5,798 people in 10 cities, 1,713 of them aged 60+, is the most recent picture; it covers urban households in the middle and lower-middle socio-economic classes.^[11] While 71% of older respondents used basic mobile phones, only 41% owned smartphones and 13% used computers, the internet or social media.^[11] Two-thirds (66%) found digital tools “too confusing”, and 51% feared making errors.^[11] Many need help: 55% said young people helped them with ATM withdrawals, 74% needed help with transport and 70% with managing money.^[11]

Those who are online spend. Simpl, a checkout company, reported that among its users aged 41-60, online travel spending rose 72 percent in the first half of 2024.^[18] The group made over 3 million transactions, up 52 percent.^[18] Groceries, quick commerce and food took one-third of their online spending, and travel 20 percent.^[18] Their average order on health and fitness rose 42 percent to ₹1,022.^[18] These are a payment company’s customers aged 41-60, not people over 60; no official or platform series publishes online shopping by people aged 60 and over.

Trust is the barrier more than money. Ipsos India notes that Indians consider a person old at 62, and that many older customers prefer a human voice or a bank branch to a chatbot and fear digital fraud.^[19] The brands that win this customer offer a person to talk to, simple interfaces and straightforward communication.^[19]

8. Travel and pilgrimage

Older Indians are travelling abroad more. The share of departures by people over 65 rose from 4.6 per cent in 2019 to 5.2 per cent in 2025.^[20] Travellers aged 55-64 made another 8.9 per cent.^[20] Among leisure departures, people aged 55-64 were 11.94 per cent and those over 65 were 8.31 per cent.^[20] Applied to total departures, Indians aged 55 and over made about 4.63 million trips abroad in 2025, against about 3.61 million in 2019, a rise of about 28 per cent (derived from the age shares and departure totals).^[20]

At home, the railways carry the largest volume. Between March 2020 and February 2025, 31.35 crore journeys were made by senior citizens who paid full fare after concessions were withdrawn, adding ₹8,913 crore to railway revenue.^[21] Women made 13.065 crore of those journeys.^[21] That is about 42 per cent (derived).^[21] Before March 2020, women over 58 had a 50% discount and men over 60 a 40% discount.^[21] Even when concessions existed, few used them: only 15% of older people had used a train or bus concession and 2% an air concession.^[6]

Operators describe a market that wants comfort over pace. Travel firms quoted by Business Standard, among them Thomas Cook, SOTC and EaseMyTrip, describe older travellers seeking slower itineraries, cruises, pilgrimages such as Char Dham, and accessibility basics such as walk-in showers, lifts and airport assistance.^[22] Kesari Tours reports repeat bookings from seniors who travel more than once a year, and multi-generation family trips.^[23]

9. Where and how they live

Most older Indians expect to age at home with family. In HelpAge India’s survey, 65% of older respondents expected children or grandchildren to be their caregivers, and only 19% were open to an old-age home or assisted living.^[11] About one in five older people live alone or only with a spouse, and must manage their needs on their own.^[1]

Organised senior living is small but growing. JLL and the Association of Senior Living India estimate market penetration of 1.3% for senior living facilities in India.^[24] They project its target market to grow from 1.57 million households in 2024 to 2.27 million by 2030.^[24] More than 20,000 units exist, and southern India holds 60% of the market.^[24]

10. How big is the silver economy

The government defines the silver economy as goods and services for the elderly, typically those over 50 years of age.^[4] Estimates of its size depend on what is counted. NITI Aayog put India’s silver economy at about ₹73,082 crore.^[8] It put the senior care industry at about USD 7 billion, or ₹57,881 crore.^[8] World Data Lab projections, published by Brookings, put spending by older Indians at about $100 billion, rising to almost $1 trillion by 2030 — enough to put India among the top 10 silver economies.^[25] Ipsos India counts about 140 million senior citizens and argues the group is largely ignored by mainstream marketing.^[19]

These figures measure different things — a services industry, a consumption total — and none is a census of older people’s spending. Treat them as direction, not size.

11. The gaps businesses miss

The customer is usually a woman. Women are a majority of Indians over 60 and most of those over 80, and they are more likely to be widowed and to live alone.^[1][5] Products and services designed around a retired male earner miss most of the market. (First Resort writes for this reader too: see its guides to dressing over 40 and resort wear for women over 50.)

Income and spending power are not the same person. One in five older people has no income, while senior deposits run into lakhs of crores.^[1][13] Pricing, credit and payment options need to work for both, and for the family member who often pays.

Digital-first excludes most of them. Fewer than one in seven older people use the internet, and two in three find digital tools confusing.^[11] A phone number with a person on the end, cash or assisted payment, and larger type are not nostalgia; they are access.^[19]

Accessibility is the product. Travel firms already sell slower itineraries and step-free rooms.^[22] The same applies to stores, packaging, fit and fastenings.

The data is thin. India publishes no official spending by age, no e-commerce data by age and no current count of older people’s internet use outside small surveys. Most of the consumer figures here are surveys or platform data and are labelled as such. A new census, when its results are published, will reset the population baseline.

12. Frequently Asked Questions

Related research: Indian Women’s Travel in 2026 · India Clothing Spending 2026 · India’s Working Women in 2026