Greater Manchester (GM) is an international leader in ageing. As the UK’s first age-friendly city region, it is at the forefront of global efforts to adapt to demographic change and population ageing. GM’s new Local Industrial Strategy makes clear its ambition to capitalise on the economic opportunities of ageing and promote healthy and active ageing for all.

This report sets out the findings of research by the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC), in partnership with the Greater Manchester Ageing Hub at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), into the nature of these opportunities and how GM’s innovation infrastructure and other key stakeholders can best respond to them.

The report finds that:

• By 2040, there will be 198,000 more people aged 50+ in Greater Manchester – a 21% increase since 2020.
• The combined spending power of Greater Manchester’s households aged 65+ is increasing by £280 million each year.
• Greater Manchester’s 65+ households are currently saving £1.8 billion each year that could be spent within the local economy.
• Making Greater Manchester town centres more accessible and appealing to older consumers could boost high street spending by more than £50 million each year.

This report examines the opportunities for innovation and economic growth in four key sectors:

• Retail, culture, hospitality, tourism and sport
• Transport and mobility
• Housing
• Health and social care

There are huge opportunities to connect their efforts and GM’s many assets into an infrastructure that can promote and direct innovation to respond to the economic opportunities of ageing and support those innovations with the greatest economic and social potential to go to scale.