a b s t r a c tArticle history:Received 28 September 2013Received in revised form 14 May 2014Accepted 14 May 2014Available online 23 May 2014This paper assesses the heterogeneous effects of population aging on personal budgetallocation across sectors. Using China's household survey data, we break down each householdexpenditure component into its constituent members. We find consistent and robust ageprofiles of the composition of personal consumption expenditures. Young people spend largerproportions of their budget on food and education, culture, and recreation services. Themiddle-aged spend significantly more on clothing and transportation and communication.Lastly, the elderly spend substantially more on food and health care and medical services. Aftercontrolling for period and cohort effects as well as other socio-economic factors, we still findage to be a fundamental driver of consumption budget allocation. We also incorporate theestimated results into the population forecast data and predict the evolution of China'sconsumption budget allocation patterns driven by demographic change.© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.