A few days ago, I used a Bloomberg article as a blog: “A world with fewer babies spells economic trouble“. That Bloomberg article was about USA, China, Japan and Germany.
This UK Times article of 18 September 2018 zooms in on the “acute demographic crisis” in Japan.
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Times title: Record three in ten Japanese are over 65 as population crisis grows
“Nearly three in every ten Japanese citizens are aged over 65, a world record that underlines the country’s acute demographic crisis.
The 35.6 million senior citizens make up about 28 per cent of the population, according to new government figures. This is the highest ratio in the world, followed by Italy at 23 per cent and Portugal and Germany, both with 22 per cent. In the UK it is about 18 per cent.
The data, released to coincide with yesterday’s Respect for the Aged public holiday in Japan, suggests that the over-65s will make up more than two thirds of the population by 2040.
Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, has described the declining birth rate and ageing population as a national crisis. The overall decline in the population and rising proportion of elderly people mean that in the coming decades a smaller number of working people will bear a greater burden of supporting those who have retired.
The number of centenarians in Japan is also at a record high, of 69,785, this month, with nearly nine in ten of them women, according to separate data released by the welfare ministry.
Women in Japan have an average life expectancy of 87.3 years, compared with 81 years for men. Smoking rates are vastly lower among women than men there.
It is expected that within a decade Japan will have about 170,000 centenarians, putting further strain on health and welfare services.
Mr Abe, who is expected to win another three-year term as head of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party in a scheduled party vote on Thursday, has foreshadowed reforms to the social security system to allow people aged over 65 to continue working beyond retirement age.
Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, has described the declining birth rate and ageing population as a national crisis. The overall decline in the population and rising proportion of elderly people mean that in the coming decades a smaller number of working people will bear a greater burden of supporting those who have retired.
The number of centenarians in Japan is also at a record high, of 69,785, this month, with nearly nine in ten of them women, according to separate data released by the welfare ministry.
Women in Japan have an average life expectancy of 87.3 years, compared with 81 years for men. Smoking rates are vastly lower among women than men there.
It is expected that within a decade Japan will have about 170,000 centenarians, putting further strain on health and welfare services.
Mr Abe, who is expected to win another three-year term as head of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party in a scheduled party vote on Thursday, has foreshadowed reforms to the social security system to allow people aged over 65 to continue working beyond retirement age.”
Source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/japans-ageing-population-reaches-new-world-record-bs9cr8mjx
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