At a glance:

• A fifth (20%) of Mexico’s population was aged 50 and over in 2018 – and this is set to increase to 29% by 2035.
• People aged 50 and over in Mexico already accounted for 1 in 4 workers (25% of the workforce) in 2017 – this could rise to 36% by 2035.
• In Mexico, people aged 65+ spent (on average) almost 50% more time volunteering each year than people at other ages in 2002.

We’ve become accustomed to ageing populations being presented as a bad thing. But far from being a cost or drain on public resources, older people’s social and economic impact is significant.

But it could be much higher if we remove avoidable barriers to working, spending, caring and volunteering, with the most important being poor health.

We know that countries that invest more in health see more people working, spending and volunteering and that investment in prevention drives a return. Spending just 0.1 percentage points more on preventative health can unlock an additional 9% in spending by older consumers and an average of 10 additional hours of volunteering across the G20.

In this report, we highlight the economic contributions of older people in Mexico today and what more could be done to unlock a longevity dividend over the years to come, which could be instrumental in the post-COVID recovery.

To achieve this, we call on the Government of Mexico to adopt an Ageing Society New Deal that sees spend on prevention raised to 6% of health budgets, alongside greater support for older people’s paid and unpaid contributions.