ABSTRACT

The ongoing demographic changes that happen during last years in Europe as well as in Poland, in a relentless way influence size and structure of social and economic phenomena. While planning economic and social development of regions or countries as well as making crucial decisions on different matters, it is essential to know the tendencies regarding size and structures of population as well as identifying the rate of changes in this area.

Many economic and socio-economic factors are major influence on preferences, needs and purchase force of people. Differentiation of demand on the market of goods and services depends among others on living conditions of households, thus on their main source of income, life cycle of family and its size. Together with the changes of size and structure according to age of population, alteration in people's needs, as well as their abilities are observed, hence the potential of consumers on the goods and services market changes.

The aim of the article is to carry an analysis of changing potential of elderly consumers in Poland, identified here mainly with the elderly people resource from the point of view of its ageing society. The research will include two aspects of changes: size and structure of elderly consumers’ potential and rate of changes in this potential.

Together with progressive ageing of Polish society the potential of elderly consumers from the perspective of human resource will increase. Such population changes suggest that the composition of consumption expenditure will change.