TSMA Yearbook 2018

98 2018 Yearbook impacts of the elderly waves into a momentum of silver economy is an important issue.. If this crisis could be transformed into an opportunity, in order to cope with the ageing phenomenon, there will be lots of products or services innovated in the newly-uprising elderly industry. Therefore, this article will first brief the relevance between the changing of demographic and industrial development. Next is to define the categories of the elderly industry and the business opportunities for development. At last, there are suggestions for Taiwanese enterprises in this industry. Changing demographic and industrial development Compared with European and American countries, though the process of Taiwan’s population transition starts later, it speeds up rather fast. So-called “Population Transition” goes through three stages. In the transition process, the first stage is from “high birth rate and high death rate stage” to “high birth rate and low death rate” stage. At this stage, the ratio of youth population is increasing. The bottom of population pyramid is getting wider. Next stage is to shift to “low birth rate and low death rate”, that is, the ratio of the young people is gradually going down. The bottom of population pyramid becomes narrow. Once the birth and death rates both go down to a certain level, the population pyramid is getting steady. European and American countries spent about two centuries from 1750 to 1950 to complete population transition. For Taiwan, it only takes 65 years from 1920 to 1985 to finish a quick transition. Then Taiwan’s population structure becomes aged at a very fast speed and the aged population grows much faster than other nations. Base on Diagram 1, in 1971, the bottom of Taiwan’s population pyramid is broad and sharp top. The majority of the population below 30 years old is teens. In 2013, the middle of population pyramid becomes larger, in the meantime, the top and the bottom get smaller. The shape of pyramid seems like a lantern. The labor supply of young adults is sufficient. As calculated, 2061, apart from the population declination, the pyramid will revert to upside-down shape. The social burden is comparatively heavy. In Diagram 2, we can see that Taiwan’s population over 65 years old from 2010 to 2060 grows much faster than any other countries in the world. Its position soars from the bottom to the top among other nations.