JAPAN: The 75-and-Older Crowd Are Now 10% Of Population

TOKYO, Japan (The Japan Times - Kyodo News), November 22, 2007: People 75 and older now constitute 10 percent of the population, the government said Wednesday, underscoring the rapid growth in Japan's elderly. The figure was 1.3 percent in 1950, when the government first started tracking such data, and rose to 5 percent in 1991 before breaking the 10 percent mark this year, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said. As of November 1, Japan's population was estimated at 127.79 million, with 12.76 million — 4.79 million men and 7.97 million women — aged 75 or older. The ministry compiled the estimates on the basis of the 2005 census and data on births and deaths in subsequent years. Men aged 75 or older account for 7.7 percent of the male population, while their female counterparts account for 12.2 percent of all of Japan's women. Those aged 65 or older totaled 27.53 million, accounting for 21.5 percent of the population. Those aged 14 or younger, meanwhile, totaled 17.28 million, down 140,000 from a year ago and making up 13.5 percent of the population. The ratio was 35.4 percent in 1950. The latest figures show that the graying of Japan's population is progressing faster than earlier predicted. Based on the 2000 census, the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research had forecast that the 75-or-older age group would account for 9.7 percent of the population in 2007, and that those 14 and younger would account for 13.7 percent. (C) The Japan Times