Ageing population on the rise

"The elderly will outnumber children for the first time in history by 2045", says an influential report from the United Nations Department of economic and social affairs. "This inevitable trend will create even more need for nursing homes and increase the burden on working-age people to support retirees".

The proportion of the world's population older than 60 years will reach 22% over the next four decades, from 11% in 2009 and 8% back in 1950. The ranks of the elderly are expanding 2.6% per year, three times faster than humanity as a whole, mostly because people are living longer and having fewer children.

This bodes well for Balhousie Care Group, who recently announced plans to double the number of residents it can care for from the present 750 to 1500 over the next three years.