Japan’s elderly population accounts for record 27.7 pct

September 17, 2017

TOKYO- The estimated number of people aged 65 or older in Japan stood at 35.14 million as of Friday, accounting for 27.7 pct of the nation's total population, with both figures hitting record highs, an internal affairs ministry survey showed Sunday.

The elderly population increased 570,000 from a year earlier and its share rose 0.5 percentage point, with the total national population on a downtrend.

The number of people aged 90 or older stood at 2.06 million, exceeding two million for the first time ever.

Elderly men totaled 15.25 million, accounting for 24.7 pct of the total male population. The number of elderly women stood at 19.88 million, or 30.6 pct of the female population across Japan.

The survey results were released ahead of Respect for the Aged Day on Monday, a national holiday.

The share of elderly people in the total population in Japan is the highest among the Group of Seven major advanced nations. Italy came second with 23.0 pct, 4.7 points lower than Japan's, while the United States had the smallest share, of 15.4 pct.

In 2016, a total of 7.7 million people aged 65 or older had jobs, up 380,000 from the previous year for the 13th straight year of increase. They accounted for 11.9 pct of all people aged 15 or over with jobs in the country, up 0.5 point.

The growth in the number of elderly people in employment comes against the backdrop of labor shortages stemming mainly from the low birthrate.

The number of elderly people with nonregular jobs increased 330,000 to 3.01 million, accounting for 75.1 pct of the total elderly workforce excluding corporate executives and self-employed people.

Many elderly people are willing to work if jobs that suit them are available, a ministry official said. Jiji Press