Low-tech longevity investments could unlock $6 trillion by 2040: WEF

tech, low-cost strategies could prevent 400 million falls at home, 8.5 million new type 2 diabetes cases and 2.4 million dementia cases by 2040, while unlocking $5.8 trillion in healthcare savings and $645 billion in productivity gains. Yet much of that opportunity remains unrealized because governments and businesses manage health, finances and labour participation separately, a new World Economic Forum report finds.

The Longevity Dividend: The Business Case for Linking Health and Wealth, developed with Marsh, analysed prevention strategies in 21 countries to show how three low-cost measures — access to hearing aids, simple home safety improvements and physical activity programmes — could unlock massive savings by 2040.

Poor health strains healthcare systems and personal finances, impacting financial resilience and creating wider economic costs. Women who spend just one year caregiving, for instance, face a 24% reduction in retirement savings due to time away from the workforce combined with the gender pay gap. Yet institutions often address these challenges separately, despite their growing economic consequences.

Released at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2026 in China, the report identifies three areas where prevention could deliver substantial economic returns while improving population health: Falls prevention, Physical activity and diabetes prevention and Hearing aid access and dementia prevention.

“Longevity is not about getting old,” said Haleh Nazeri, Lead, Longevity Economy at the World Economic Forum. “Harnessing this multi-trillion-dollar shift requires governments, businesses and individuals to begin addressing physical and financial health together. This can strengthen financial resilience, reduce healthcare costs and increase productivity across economies.”