Southeast Asia’s (SEA) ageing population is shifting the region’s main fintech audience, with the most active users expected to be 65+ by 2050.
New Robocash analysis anticipates that today’s users of fintech in SEA will be the industry’s main audience by 2050.
The most active fintech audience aged 14 to 65 years will move into the 65+ group, making it the largest increase of twice in its share.
As of October 2022, there are around 426.5 million users of five fintech industries in the SEA region. These industries include alternative lending, digital investment, digital assets, digital banking and digital payments.
This is approximately 63 per cent of the total population in SEA. By 2050, this figure will rise to 76 per cent, as the graph below predicts.
Robocash foresees that the most active users of fintech today will maintain their usage into the future. This, it says, will dramatically shift the main target audience of the industry by 2050.
The majority of future users will be women, who already outnumber men.
The changing demographics of SEA
The average age of the SEA population has risen significantly. Over the past 33 years, the number of people aged 65+ increased by 190.2 per cent.
At the same time, the number of people aged between 15 and 64 grew by 76.7 per cent. However, the youngest branches of society, aged between zero to 14 years old, grew just 3.6 per cent.
In terms of the total population, there are currently around 681 million people in SEA. The data forecasts that by 2050, this figure will increase 17.9 per cent to 803 million.
As today’s generations begin to get older, the data indicates a shortage of young people from zero to 14 years old in the future. Numbers in this age range will only grow by 1.7 per cent in the next 28 years.
With fewer young people and an ageing population, the largest increase is expected in the 65+ segment.
“By 2050, the most promising audience for fintech in SEA is expected to be women over 38 years old,” confirms the analysis.
This share will grow significantly, bolstered by a life expectancy of 81 years. With an ageing population, fintech industries such as digital payments, banking, insurance, and healthcare “could grow significantly.”
Robocash is a group of companies providing fintech services in Asia and Europe. Founded in 2013, the group focuses on providing technological finance solutions for the underserved by the traditional banking system.
Its corresponding research identifies lending and saving services as key enablers of digital finance in the Philippines.
