According to the latest official government data, more than 10% of Japanese people are over 80 years old, a statistic that has been determined for the first time.
A population that is still aging. According to Japanese government data released on Sunday, September 17, more than 10% of Japan’s population is over 80 years old. For the first time, statistics have been compiled as the country battles aging.
Among other figures announced on the eve of the “elderly” holiday (editor’s note: those over 65), 29.1% of Japanese are over 65, an increase from last year. “Japan has the highest proportion of elderly people in the world,” the ministry said, pointing to the other two countries on the panel, Italy (24.5%) and Finland (23.6%).
Economic difficulties
For decades, Japan’s population has been shrinking and aging as young people delay marriage and having children, largely due to job insecurity and economic hardship. Of Japan’s 124 million inhabitants, 12.59 million are over 80 years old (10.1%) and 20 million are over 75 years old (16.1%).
One consequence of this situation is that the working population is getting older. More than 9 million older people work, or 13.6% of the workforce. This means that 25% of older people in the archipelago are employed, less than in South Korea (36.2%) but more than in the United States (18.6%) and France (3.9%). according to published data. In 2040, the elderly in Japan are expected to account for 34.8% of the population.