The proportion of the elderly population in Japan has reached a new high

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan released the latest statistics on Sunday (September 14th), showing that there are currently 36.19 million people aged 65 and above in Japan, accounting for 29.4% of the country's total population, setting a new historical record.

According to Xinhua News Agency, although the number of people aged 65 and above in Japan decreased by 50,000 compared with last year, the proportion of the elderly in the total population rose by 0.1 percentage point to 29.4%. Among the 38 countries with a global population of over 40 million, Japan has the highest proportion of elderly people.

Data also shows that, by gender, there are 15.68 million men and 20.51 million women aged 65 and above. By age group, there are 29.01 million people aged 70 and above, 21.24 million people aged 75 and above, and 12.89 million people aged 80 and above, all of which have increased compared with the previous year.

In addition, data shows that 9.3 million people aged 65 and above were employed in Japan last year, an increase of 160,000 from the previous year, setting a new record for 21 consecutive years. Employed people aged 65 and above accounted for 13.7% of the total employed population, also reaching a record high.

The General Affairs Department said that due to factors such as insufficient manpower and the delay of the retirement age, it is expected that the number of elderly people employed will continue to increase in the future.

In recent years, the degree of aging and low birth rate in Japan has been deepening day by day. According to the National Institute of Social Security and Population Studies of Japan, by 2050, the proportion of people aged 65 and above in Japan may reach 37.1%.