As of Monday, more than 10% of Japan’s population is 80 years or older According to data released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the proportion of Japanese seniors defined as 65 and older is also at a record high, accounting for 29.1% of the population – the highest figure in the world.
The ministry released the figures to mark the Respect for the Aged Day for the country, which faces a declining birth rate and a shrinking labor force, which could affect pension funds and health care as demand from an aging population rises.
Since the economic boom in the 1980s, Japan’s population has declined steadily, with a fertility rate of 1.3-less than the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population in the absence of immigration. Deaths have outpaced births in Japan by more than a decade, posing a major challenge to the leader of the world’s third-largest economy.
The country also has one of the highest life expectancies in the world, contributing to an increasing elderly population.
In hopes of overcoming labor shortages and rebuilding a stagnant economy, the Japanese government has encouraged more elderly people and stay-at-home mothers to re-enter the workforce over the past decade.
To some extent, the message has worked: Japan now has 9.12 million older workers, an increase of 19 years. Workers 65 and older make up more than 13% of the national workforce, the Interior Minister said Monday.
However, Japan’s elderly employment rate is among the highest among major economies.
He said childcare was the government’s “most important policy” and it “cannot wait any longer”.
More recently, China, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan are facing a similar crisis, struggling to encourage young people to have more children due to the rising cost of living and social discontent.
