World’s most aged society just got older – Japan sets new records
- The elderly now make up more than 28 per cent of the population and the figure is expected to hit 30 by 2025
- More seniors than ever before are staying in the world of work as the country looks for ways to counter a deepening labour shortage
Japan’s elderly accounted for 28.4 per cent of its population and 12.9 per cent of its labour force in 2018, both record highs, government data released on Sunday showed.
The number of citizens aged 65 or older in Japan, which has the world’s oldest population, stood at 35.88 million, up 320,000 from a year earlier, according to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, which released the figures ahead of the country’s Respect for the Aged Day on Monday.
The ratio of seniors in Japan remained well above the 23 per cent in Italy, the world’s second most aged society.
The number of Japanese aged 90 or older reached 2.31 million, including 70,000 centenarians.
The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research projects Japan’s elderly will make up 30 per cent of the population in 2025 and 35.3 per cent in 2040.
The proportion of seniors with jobs increased for the 15th consecutive year as the country faces a deepening labour shortage. Of the 8.62 million seniors with jobs, 3.5 million were women.
The biggest employer of seniors was the wholesale and retail industry, with 1.27 million elderly workers, followed by agriculture and forestry with 1.07 million.