When it comes to graying populations, Japan leads the way but Europe is not far behind with Germany second only to Italy.

One in five Germans is over 65, by 2030 it will be one in four and by 2050 one in three will be above what for now at least is the retirement age, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat.

As in other Western countries, such a top-heavy population pyramid is putting a huge strain on public finances and leaving governments to struggle to meet a growing bill for pensions and healthcare.

Earlier this month German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government hiked pension payments, prompting a wave of criticism and talk of a “war of generations” as the young are left to pay the bills of the old.

It was perhaps no coincidence that this move comes ahead of elections in 2009, and Merkel’s conservative CDU party — as do all parties — need to win over seniors if they are to attract votes.

The over 60s make up 48 percent of CDU members and 46 percent of those at Merkel’s SPD center-left coalition partners. And with Germany’s fastest growing party, a far-left grouping known as The Left, attracting swathes of unhappy voters, the figure is a full 70 percent.

“I am afraid we are already seeing the first signs of a seniors’ democracy,” says Roman Herzog, a 74 year-old former German president. “In the end it could turn out that older people take advantage of the young.”

But all these German seniors don’t just sit about. More and more of them are doing voluntary work, going on frequent holidays or joining seniors’ theater groups. And last but not least, they have disposable income.

From “E-Bikes” to give tired legs a boost to soft door handles that don’t hurt so much if you bang into them, the market for products targeted at Germany’s rapidly aging population has huge promise, something which is being recognized by the government and businesses.

“If today we promote products and services that all generations like and find useful, with its rapidly aging society Germany has a big chance to set standards and become the world market leader,” says Ursula von der Leyen, Germany’s minister for seniors.

“The older generation today has enormous demand power. Every third euro that is spent in the private sector in Germany comes out the purse of someone over 60,” von der Leyen said.

Thomas Bade agrees. He is the head of Universal Design eV, a German lobby group dedicated to pressing manufacturers to come up with products for seniors, something he calls the “design challenge of the coming decades.”

“It is a market expected to develop enormously in the coming years, and companies should understand this if they want to remain competitive,” Bade told AFP.

Siegfried Neuberger, head of the German bicycle association ZIW, for instance, predicts that the market for E-Bikes — electronically assisted bikes otherwise known as pedelecs — will expand by 50 percent in 2008.

But such products can also have a wider appeal.

“We are not just talking here about products destined specifically for people who are old or dependent, like wheelchairs of medical devices, but everyday objects made to be used by all generations,” Bade says.

As well as easy-to-use microwave ovens or salad spinners, Universal Design is also about improved interior design such as doors that open automatically or large light switches.

“People who buy or build a house at 35 or 40 years old don’t think enough about when they will get old. It is houses being built now that have to have elevators, wide doors and special showers, in order to prepare for the future,” Bade says.

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