Aging population hits record high in Japan

  • September 16, 2013, 7:31 pm
  • World News
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TOKYO, Sept 16 (INP): The Japanese government says that population of elders aged above 65 hit a record high at 31.86 million as of Sunday, an increase of 1.12 million from previous year, media reported.

The figure was up 0.9 per cent to 25 per cent and was based on births and deaths registered since a census in 2010, said Japan's Kyodo News, quoting the internal affairs ministry.

This means that one in four people in the country are aged over 65.

The ministry said in a demographic estimate that the record high figure was triggered by the baby boom after the World War II.

According to Japan's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, it will be one in three people in Japan to be aged above 65 by the year of 2035.

The number of male aged over 65 stood at 13.69 million, about 22.1 per cent of the overall male population, while 18.18 million female were aged over 65, 27.8 of the total female population, said the report.

It also said that of all the population aged over 65, about 27.9 per cent of men and 13.2 per cent of women remained part of the labour force.