The research firm expects older adults to form the fastest-growing group of care recipients
As many as 4.6bn people could depend on some form of care by 2035.
Frost & Sullivan says that demand is pushing the global care economy toward a technology-driven model, opening funding and investment gaps for governments, employers and financial backers.
The firm's analysis, "The Global Care Economy, Transformations and Opportunities to 2035," puts the care-dependent population at between 3.2bn and 4.6bn within a decade, with older adults forming the fastest-growing group.
Frost & Sullivan links the surge to three pressures acting at once: demographic ageing, widening healthcare workforce shortages and faster digital innovation.
Those forces, the study argues, are moving care away from a labour-heavy service toward integrated systems built on artificial intelligence, robotics, connected devices and digital platforms.
Neha Anna Thomas, associate director of economic analytics at Frost & Sullivan, said the care economy is shifting "from a predominantly labour-intensive sector" toward one built on AI, robotics, connected devices and digital platforms.
New funding structures sit near the centre of that shift.
According to the firm, closer collaboration between governments, businesses and investors is producing fresh financing models for care infrastructure and for multi-generational services that combine healthcare, childcare and eldercare under connected platforms.
The analysis flags several areas it expects to draw capital.
Physical and technology-enabled care infrastructure, including smart care facilities and home-retrofitting services, should attract significant investment.
It also points to SilverTech and AgeTech products such as AI-powered wearables, eldercare robotics, fall-detection tools and digital health platforms, which it says can help older adults stay independent while relieving strain on health systems.
Adjacent markets round out the opportunity, as per the study, with childcare services, digital learning, caregiver upskilling and technology-enabled care marketplaces cited as growth areas.
Rising demand for specialised care skills is also lifting investment in AI-driven workforce training and integrated education platforms.
Thomas said the organisations most likely to gain will be those pairing technology with human judgment.
The firms best placed for long-term growth, she said, will "combine technological innovation with human-centred care, improve accessibility, and deliver measurable outcomes across the care continuum."
