The population of people aged 65 and over in Japan has reached a record high, according to the internal affairs ministry. As of Sunday, there were an estimated 36.25 million elderly individuals in the country, an increase of 20,000 from the previous year. This accounts for 29.3% of Japan’s total population, also a record high.
Breaking down the numbers further, there were 15.72 million men aged 65 and over, making up 26.1% of the male population. On the other hand, there were 20.53 million women in this age group, accounting for 32.3% of the female population.
This trend is not new; it has been steadily increasing since the 1950s and is expected to continue rising in the future. According to projections from the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, by 2040 it is estimated that people aged 65 and over will make up around 34.8% of Japan’s total population.
In terms of employment among older individuals, in 2023 there was a record number of workers aged 65 and over at approximately9 .14 million individuals – marking a continuous increase for twenty years straight.The wholesale and retail sector had about1 .32 million workers within this age group while medical/welfare sector had about1 .07million workersand service sector had about1 .04million workers.
the proportionofworkersaged15andoverwhoareaged65andoveraccountedfor13 .5%,a slight decreaseof0 .1percentagepointfromthepreviousyear.Furthermore,a quarter(25 .2%)oftheelderlypopulationhadajob,in line withthe previous year’s figures
