Sep 19, 2023 at 1:57 PM Update: 15 minutes ago
For the first time, one in ten Japanese is over eighty. Nearly 30 percent are 65 years or older. Japan therefore has the oldest population in the world.
Japan stands head and shoulders above the rest of the world with the percentage of people over 65. In Italy, number two on the list, 25 percent of the population is 65 years or older. Finland follows with a share of 24 percent.
According to predictions by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, nearly 35 percent of Japan’s population will be over 65 by 2040.
Those over 65 make up a significant proportion of workers in Japan. About 13 percent of workers are 65 years or older. Despite this large share, the aging population places a heavy burden on social security expenditure.
According to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the functioning of society is at risk due to the enormous aging population.
Many elderly people, but few grandparents
The birth rate is low in Japan. Fewer and fewer babies are being born. In 2022 this would have increased to 800,000. This is a new low since the start of measurements in the nineteenth century. In 1970, two million more children were born. According to predictions, a third of women who are now eighteen will not have a child.
An attempt is being made to boost the birth rate. So far this doesn’t seem to be working. Young couples don’t have children because life is expensive and the working weeks are long.
Japan is not the only country with this problem. The birth rate is also declining in other Asian countries. China’s population fell in 2022 for the first time since 1961. South Korea reports the lowest fertility rates in the world.
Beeld: Getty images
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Japan Aging Abroad
2023-09-19 14:53:49
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