Over 65 in Italia: property wealth, financial stability and key role in SMEs

Not at all in debt, a secure and stable income, home ownership and often still working. This is the portrait of the over-65s traced by Alberto Brambilla (Centro Studi e Ricerche Itinerari Previdenziali) in his latest book 'Longevity Economy. From Silver to Longevity. The great economy of the coming decades".

By 2024 the over-65s are about 14.3 million (more than half of whom are women) and represent 24.3% of the population: a percentage destined to rise, according to ISTAT projections, to 30% in 2035 and up to 34.5% in 2050, when more than 1 in 3 Italians will be over 65. Now having overcome the impact of COVID-19, Italia ranks firmly among the world's longest-living countries, first in the EU rankings for life expectancy but not so for healthy life expectancy. Significant, after all, is the gap between the two parameters, with life expectancy at the age of 65 equal in 2022 (last available year) to 19 years for men and 21.9 for women, which decreases to 10.4 years for men and 9.9 for women when considering healthy ageing.

the Silver are among the largest holders of wealth - understood as assets both movable and immovable - in the country, having, moreover, stable income flows, such as those from pensions, even in phases of global difficulties (such as those potentially arising from growing geopolitical tensions), as they are not dependent on economic cycles, so much so that they also stand out among the least indebted population groups in absolute terms, as well as for a higher spending capacity than that of the other age groups. In detail, starting from the data provided by the Bank of Italy, Brambilla's publication highlights how the 51-65 age bracket has the highest average equivalent income per household head characteristics and is equal to 23,110 euro (+11.2% compared to 20,779 euro in 2020), surpassed precisely by the over-65s with 24,090 euro (+18.9% compared to 20,260 in 2020). Only twenty years ago, in 2006, this same age group had an average equivalent income of 17,100 euros and did worse than the under 40s, who recorded an average value of 17,829 euros: today, the gap between the two age groups is almost 3,000 euros.

Broadening its view further, starting from MEF and Bank of Italia data, Itinerari Previdenziali also quantifies the average real estate wealth of Italian households, which, in the case of the head of household over 65, is worth about 281 thousand euro: a value that, multiplied by the 9.1 million households involved, brings the real estate wealth of this age group to 2,599 billion euro, or about 38.64% of the total (6,629 billion). On the other hand, the average real estate wealth of households headed by households between 50 and 64 years of age can be estimated at around 289 thousand euro, for an overall total of 2,467 billion, or 37.26% of the total. Put another way, Italian Longennials hold 75.9% of the country's entire real estate wealth and, similarly, 75.91% of its movable wealth. On the other hand, if we look at the data on the distribution of housing by income class, we can see that 90.7% of the over-65s live in their own homes, a higher percentage than all the other age groups, among which, however, the 55-64 bracket also stands out. Here, 85.2% own at least one home.

In the previous edition of the study dedicated to the Silver Economy, on the basis of these parameters, the Itinerari Previdenziali Study and Research Centre hypothesised a value of 288.7 billion lire for the net annual spendable of the Italian over-65s for 2022, a value (net of contributions and taxes) also including income from movable and immovable assets or shareholdings, and at the time considered prudential not taking into account income other than pension income. "Starting from this value - taking into account both inflation, hypothesised at 2%, and the consistent increase in the number of over-65s, which will reach 15.9 million within five years - it is therefore possible to estimate a net spendable income of 391 billion euro by 2030, destined to grow further until the 'peak' of 2050," Brambilla points out. "In short, we are talking about an important capitalisation which, over the next 20/25 years, will be partly destined to further expand the volumes of consumption of the long-lived and partly transferred to children or relatives, the over 40s of today, further increasing the overall value of the Italian longevity economy,' the professor explained, recalling that from 2026 to 2030 alone around €873 billion will change hands, for a flow of €174 billion a year, to which another €940 billion should be added between 2031 and 2035 (i.e. a good €186 billion every year). In particular, as confirmed by both the Istat surveys and the results of the Itinerari Previdenziali-Format Research survey, the consumption of Longennials and, above all, the over-65s, is dominated by goods and services relating to personal health (assistance, drugs and other health expenses), which are, however, also flanked by products more generally oriented towards the care and maintenance of psycho-physical wellbeing, including recreation (gyms, entertainment, travel, tourism, leisure).