Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
Golden years
Healthcare | Economy
November 8, 2023 – Meaningful connections in old age can lead to health and happiness—and benefit economies. Senior partner Hemant Ahlawat and colleagues note that if older adults who aren’t working were enabled to reenter the workforce in 21 surveyed countries, it could result in a boost of $6.2 trillion in annual GDP opportunities.
To read the article, see “Aging with purpose: Why meaningful engagement with society matters,” October 23, 2023.
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Visual form
Ranked horizontal stacked bar chart. Each country has one horizontal bar, split into direct uplift from older adults reentering the workforce and uplift from carers of older adults returning to work.
Layout / body structure
The graphic is arranged top to bottom in descending order of total opportunity. Reader scans the country list vertically, using bar length and the printed total on the right to compare potential GDP uplift across markets.
What is being compared
The visual compares the economic opportunity from bringing older adults back into employment across a set of countries. It also compares the direct effect of older-adult workforce reentry with the additional effect created when carers of older adults are able to return to work.
Measurement system
The unit is percentage uplift to 2021 GDP. The total for each country is printed at the right edge of the stacked bar, while the dark and light segments indicate how much of the total comes from the two different labor-force channels.
Visible structure inside the graphic
The chart uses one stacked bar per country, with the darker base segment for older adults reentering the workforce and the lighter extension for carers returning. The descending ranking and the consistent segment colors make it easy to compare both total size and mix across the country list.
Main takeaway from the visual
Reengaging older adults can create meaningful economic uplift almost everywhere, but the scale varies widely by country. The ranked bars show the biggest upside in East Asian economies near the top of the chart and much smaller gains at the bottom of the list.
Key standout values or extremes
South Korea leads at 14.7 percent potential GDP uplift, followed by China at 13.0 percent. Japan is next at 8.6 percent, while the United States is labeled at 7.2 percent; near the bottom, the United Arab Emirates shows 2.7 percent and Saudi Arabia 1.7 percent.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
This is a static chart image with no in-chart controls to operate.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the chart image is the full visual on this page.