Percentage of Japanese Aged 65 or Older Hits New High

Associated Press

Japan

September 16, 2007

Nearly 22 percent of Japan's population is aged 65 or older, a new high in one of the world's most rapidly aging societies, according to government data released to coincide with Respect the Aged Day on Monday.

Based on provisional annual census data compiled through Saturday, approximately 27.44 million people, or 21.5 percent of the country's 127.76 million population, were classed as elderly, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Sunday.

The figures surpass last year's record highs of 26.57 million people, or 20.8 percent of the population, who were 65 or over, the ministry said.

The number of Japanese aged 80 or older reached 7.13 million, the first time the figure has exceeded 7 million, the survey showed. Slightly more than two-thirds of that group were women, it said.

Japan conducts a fixed census every five years, the most recent having been in 2005.

According to data the ministry released earlier this year, Japan had the highest percentage of people aged 65 or over among a group of 37 nations with populations of more than 30 million.

The country's declining birth rate and rapidly aging population have raised worries that future generations of workers won't generate enough tax revenue to support the growing legions of elderly.

Those aged 65 and older are expected to make up 40.5 percent of Japan's population by 2055, the government said in June.

At that rate there will be only 1.3 people of working age, defined as 15 to 64 years old, for every person over 65 — compared to 3.3 working-age people now — it said.

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