The world’s population is growing older – the UN predicts that by 2050, an estimated 426 million people will be over 80, around three times as many as in 2019. With an increase in age, the demand for pharmaceuticals and innovative packaging solutions for an older population

Globally, the population aged 65 and over is growing faster than all other age groups.

As the world’s population grows older, the demand for medicine increases as well. In Germany alone, patients aged 80 and over take four to five different types of medicine every day. However, opening and closing pharmaceutical packaging is often challenging for elderly patients, as is dosing medicine correctly. But the development of pharmaceutical packaging for senior citizens is progressing: improved readability of instructions, easy-to-use caps, personalised packaging and intelligent technologies – the industry has recognised the demand for pharmaceutical packaging that is geared towards senior citizens and now offers various solutions. 

According to data from World Population Prospects: the 2019 Revision, by 2050, one in six people in the world will be over age 65 (16%), up from one in 11 in 2019 (9%). By 2050, one in four persons living in Europe and Northern America could be aged 65 or over. In 2018, for the first time in history, persons aged 65 or above outnumbered children under five years of age globally. The number of persons aged 80 years or over is projected to triple, from 143 million in 2019 to 426 million in 2050.