One In 10 People Now Aged 80 or Older In Japan

For the first time ever, more than one in 10 people in Japan are now aged 80 or older.

National data also shows 29.1 per cent of the 125 million population is aged 65 or older- a record.

Japan has one of the lowest birth-rates in the world and has long struggled with how to provide for its ageing population.

It has the world’s oldest population, measured by the proportion of people aged 65 or up, the United Nations says.

That proportion stands at 24.5 per cent in Italy and 23.6 per cent in Finland, which rank second and third respectively.

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In Japan, those aged over 65 are expected to account for 34.8% of the population by 2040, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

Birth rates are slowing in many countries, including Japan’s neighbors, but the problem is particularly acute in Japan.

The country was estimated to have had fewer than 800,000 babies born last year – the lowest number since records began in the 19th century.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in January that his country is on the brink of not being able to function as a society because of its declining birth rate.