Oman’s Silver Strategy: Meeting Present Needs, Preparing for the Future
In a region where youth still dominate, Oman stands out for quietly acknowledging a different future — one in which older adults will form a growing share of its population. The country is not ageing at the pace of Europe or East Asia, but the shift is unmistakable. In 2024, people aged 65 and older accounted for 2.64 percent of the population, a modest figure by global standards yet one that continues to rise. As fertility declines and life expectancy increases, the country’s institutions are being nudged toward a new social reality.
Across the Gulf, conversations about ageing often remain secondary to economic or technological reform. Oman’s approach, while limited in scale, signals an early recognition that demographic change cannot be managed last minute. The emphasis is not on pioneering solutions but on meeting present needs — a pragmatic stance for a nation that still has time to prepare. Unlike some of its neighbours that rely heavily on imported labor or private healthcare, Oman’s system remains strongly public and community-based, which gives it the flexibility to integrate ageing concerns into existing structures rather than build them from scratch. That approach may prove valuable as health systems across the region grapple with parallel challenges of chronic disease, urbanization, and shifting family roles.
In April 2025, the Ministry of Health launched a National Health Policy aimed at strengthening coverage, expanding community participation, and ensuring long-term sustainability in health services. The document acknowledges both demographic and epidemiological transitions, signaling that Oman’s health system must evolve to manage chronic diseases and ageing-related needs. Within this framework, the National Program for Elderly Care (ECP) has been established across primary health-care centers to provide check-ups, counselling, and follow-ups for older citizens. Yet its implementation remains uneven. A recent cross-sectional study found that only about a third of eligible older adults are enrolled, with notable regional variations and capacity gaps between urban and rural areas. The findings point to a broader truth: policy commitments are in place, but their reach and consistency depend on resources, workforce training, and sustained coordination between local clinics and central authorities.
Part of the challenge lies in perception. In Oman, as in much of the Gulf, ageing is still viewed through the lens of family duty rather than public responsibility. While that tradition remains a source of resilience, it can also mask the growing need for structured services. Health professionals note that early identification of age-related diseases — from diabetes to cognitive decline — often depends on family initiative rather than system-wide screening. To bridge that gap, Oman’s medical schools and nursing programs have begun introducing basic geriatric modules, a quiet but meaningful signal that ageing is entering the country’s professional vocabulary. Such steps may seem modest, but they help build the human infrastructure that every longevity-ready system eventually requires.
These efforts suggest a system in transition rather than transformation. Under Ministerial Decision 169/2025, care homes for citizens aged 60 and above must now follow stricter eligibility and governance standards. The Social Protection Fund continues to provide monthly old-age benefits, while pilot initiatives are testing community-based support models for seniors without family caregivers. At the same time, cities like Salalah have joined the World Health Organization’s Age-Friendly Cities Network, offering home visits, caregiver training, and basic psychosocial support — modest but meaningful steps toward redefining ageing as a shared societal concern rather than a purely medical issue. Oman has also begun modest public-awareness campaigns promoting intergenerational solidarity and active lifestyles for seniors, reflecting an effort to frame ageing as participation rather than dependency.
The challenges, however, are evident. Health officials acknowledge that Oman’s ageing population, though still relatively small, is expanding faster than its infrastructure. A 2025 national symposium in Ibri identified persistent gaps in data, workforce readiness, mental-health provision, and home-based care. With family structures evolving and younger generations more mobile, the traditional reliance on informal caregiving is becoming harder to sustain. Policymakers increasingly speak of the need for new long-term-care frameworks, geriatric training programs, and better integration between health and social services — an agenda that demands both funding and coordination across ministries. Experts also point to the importance of collecting disaggregated health data to understand how ageing intersects with gender, income, and rural–urban divides — a key requirement if Oman aims to build a more inclusive model of care.
Looking ahead, much will depend on how Oman translates its strategies into implementation. Regional cooperation could play a role: Gulf countries share similar demographic patterns, and collective investment in eldercare education, workforce mobility, and digital health could accelerate progress. For Oman, success will mean maintaining the balance between state support and family-based care while developing new services that match the expectations of a generation growing old in a more connected, urban, and aspirational society.
For now, Oman’s response to ageing is incremental rather than exemplary. New national policy signals, updated regulations for state-run homes, social-protection mechanisms, and early steps toward age-friendly communities together form a gradual but tangible strategy. None of these measures is revolutionary, but they reflect a system adapting to demographic reality rather than denying it. In the long run, Oman’s experience may offer a useful case study for middle-income countries facing similar transitions — how to prepare before ageing becomes a crisis, and how to balance cultural tradition with institutional care. As the global conversation around longevity shifts from lifespan to health span, Oman’s cautious, grounded approach shows that preparedness can take many forms, even quiet ones.
In a region that often measures progress in headline-grabbing megaprojects, Oman’s approach to the Silver Age is understated — a series of practical steps aimed at keeping its health and welfare systems aligned with changing needs. It is a reminder that for nations where the demographic clock still ticks a little slower, preparation may be the greatest advantage of all.
