Innovations Paving the Way for a Resilient Longevity Economy — WEF Report 2025

The World Economic Forum’s 2025 report, Future-Proofing the Longevity Economy: Innovations and Key Trends, lays out an urgent and hopeful roadmap for navigating the demographic transition. As low birth rates and longer lifespans reshape economies worldwide, the report urges bold cross-sector collaboration to foster financial resilience and inclusivity across generations.

Crafted with the expertise of Mercer and dozens of global institutions, the paper spotlights five pivotal trends that will determine whether aging economies thrive—or fracture under pressure:

Resilient public retirement systems
Modern retirement frameworks are essential for aging populations. The report highlights the need to redesign these systems so they remain equitable and sustainable, especially as traditional pension models falter.

Shift from accumulation to decumulation
The future demands a shift in thinking: helping people manage how they spend their savings in retirement (decumulation), not just how they accumulate them. This requires new tools and literacy.

Employers as architects of financial wellbeing
Employers have an extraordinary opportunity—and responsibility—to invest in their employees’ long-term financial health through benefits, planning tools, and holistic wellness strategies.

The economics of caregiving and long-term care
As care needs rise, the report stresses innovation in financing and policies, ensuring that individuals, families, and systems can sustain the emotional and economic load of aging.

Unlocking pathways for economic growth
Aging societies aren’t economic dead ends—they can be engines of innovation. The report recommends inclusive job designs, upskilling infrastructure, and ecosystem-building across sectors.

But the WEF is clear: these aren’t just good ideas—they are urgent necessities. The report issues a call to action with ten transformative recommendations, urging policymakers, business leaders, financial institutions, and civil society to reimagine systems in a way that ensures dignity, inclusivity, and resilience for all generations.