by Manish Kumar,
Managing Director – Strategic Consulting,
JLL India
The senior living sector
in India is at a crossroad. With the relaxation of Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI) restrictions on investments in the sector and increasing population of
seniors (over 100 million seniors in India at present) to cater to, there
clearly exists an untapped opportunity for investment and development in this
sector.
Unlike western countries where the senior living industry has gained
maturity, India provides an opportunity to developers, service providers,
healthcare players and operators to create solutions specific to India while
leveraging learning from across the world.
In the white paper ‘Senior Living Sector In India’,
JLL India showcases seniors in India as a demographic
segment, brings out key trends in senior housing in India, assesses overall
market potential, focuses on best practices, and brings out a pan-India preview
of senior living projects in India.
EXTRACT:
The Emerging Need for
Senior Housing in India - Staying Ahead of the Curve
Although India is still
younger than USA and Japan from a demographic standpoint, the process of ageing
has begun in the country. It is anticipated that the elders in India would
increase both in absolute numbers and relative strength, indicating a gradual
swing to a senior population.
As per Census of India projections, the
percentage of elders as a percentage of total population in the country would
jump from 7.4% in 2001 to 12.4% in 2026 and touch 19.7% in 2050.
In 2011, India had about 76 million seniors
above the age of 60 years, and it is expected that this figure will grow to 173
million by 2025, further increasing to about 240 million by 2050. This marked
increase in elderly population would involve a change in an important sociological
aspect, the ‘old age dependency ratio’.
Interestingly, by 2050, it is estimated
that the number of dependent adults in India will be at par with the number of
dependent children. The population pyramid shows that the movement of the bulge
in the population northwards to higher age cohorts with time.
Besides growth in sheer
numbers, seniors are also evolving as a customer segment and have needs and
wants, which are different from seniors in earlier times.
A significant section
of seniors today are independent, financially stable, well-travelled, socially
connected, and as a result have well developed thoughts of how they want to
spend time after retirement. There is, today, a larger percentage of educated
seniors than ever before in India.
Seniors now consider
life after retirement as an opportunity to spend more time with families,
pursue hobbies, develop new interests or even continue working or starting a
new career.
While it is true that the seniors are more independent and better
equipped to take decisions post their retirement, it is equally correct to say
that their needs are not rightly understood and therefore not met appropriately
by both public and private sector at large.
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| Manish Kumar, Managing Director – Strategic Consulting, JLL India |
The senior community presents a
tremendous opportunity to service providers.
Senior Housing Segment
in a Global Context
As per the findings by
National Family Health Survey in 2005-06 (NFHS-3), every three out of five
households (about 63%) in India are nuclear.
Increasing life expectancy,
decreasing fertility rate, lower mortality rates and an overall enhancement of
the standard of living across the world has contributed to people living longer
than ever before.
In 2008 as per the National Institute of Aging (USA), it was
estimated that the senior population (above 60 years of age) in the world was
506 million. The population of seniors across the world is projected to become
1.3 billion by 2040.
This increase in
population in the segment will bring with it unique socio–demographic
situations which have not been experienced by society at large. For the first
time in human history in 2021, the total number of seniors will be greater than
the number of kids below 5 years of age.
While developed nations will still
have a large number of seniors, the rate of growth in senior population in
developing nations will be double that of developed nations. The 80+ age
segment is actually the fastest growing segment amongst population cohorts in
several nations.
China and India are
projected to have almost 50% of the 1.3 billion worldwide seniors by 2040.
Seniors need specialized housing catering to their needs. What started in early
19th century in the USA to cater to housing for seniors mainly through the
interventions of religious groups and charitable bodies is now recognized in
the USA as a prominent asset class.
Senior housing is a USD 60 billion industry
worldwide. In USA alone there are over 520,000 senior housing units with
additional 16,000 units under construction.
While the sector
commands large numbers, it is also important to get a sense that only about 12%
of seniors in the USA live in formal senior living projects. Compare to this
Australia has 4% as seniors living in such projects. In contrast to senior
living in the west, the concept of housing for seniors as a specific asset
class in India continues to have social stigma associated with it which has
restricted the growth of the sector at large.
There is, however, now a growing
realization amongst urban households, who in the last 20 - 25 years have
witnessed a marked increase in nuclear families that families are no longer
equipped to take care of their aged family members.
In this changing social
environment, concepts such contemporary retirement resorts are becoming
acceptable and popular. While this has prompted developers to come up with
projects targeting the independent seniors, the country is yet to see an
integrated continuing care retirement communities catering to end to end needs
of senior citizens.
For
media Contact
Arun
Chitnis
Head
– Corporate Communications & Media Relations
JLL
India
Pune
411001.
Tel:
(020) 30930441 Fax: (020) 40196101
Mob:
+91 9657129999
Twitter: @JLLIndia
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