The senior-care services industry is forecast to reach a global market value of US$37.38 trillion by 2025, with its market value in Taiwan alone estimated to hit US$108.9 billion, according the Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK) of the Industrial Technology Research Institute.
The issue has gained prominence in Taiwan since China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) Chairman Chen Deming (陳德銘) recently said in Taipei that the elderly care services sector has been prioritized in China’s 13th Five-Year Development Plan (2016-2020).
Chen, who arrived in Taiwan on Monday on a seven-day visit, said he hoped the two sides across the Taiwan Strait could work together to explore opportunities in this area.
China’s population of citizens 60 years and older has now exceeded 200 million, Chen said.
Chang Tsz-ying (張慈映), the head of the IEK’s research team on medical devices, said the senior care services industry could be divided into three segments — general health and medical care services; medical device and equipment supplies; and home care and other related services.
Based on the industry’s global market value of US$10.92 trillion in 2001, the market would be worth US$37.38 trillion by 2025, the IEK said. Meanwhile, based on the Taiwanese market value of US$24.6 billion in 2011, the market by 2025 is forecast to reach US$108.9 billion, the IEK said.
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