JAPAN: Japanese aged 75-plus make up 10 percent of population

. TOKYO, Japan (Mainichi Daily News), September 15, 2008: People aged 75 or over account for more than 10 percent of Japan's population this year, according to a government estimate, for the first time since the current method of keeping statistics began in 1950. The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry released the estimate prior to the Respect-for-the-Aged Day on Monday. As of Monday, there are an estimated 13.21 million people aged 75 or over in Japan, up 530,000 from the year earlier and accounting for 10.3 percent of the total population. The number of people aged 70 or over is estimated at 20.17 million -- 8.2 million men and 11.97 million women. This is the first time that the number of people in this age bracket surpassed 20 million. One in six people in Japan are aged 70 or over. Moreover, the estimated number of people aged 65 or over, who are generally defined as elderly, came to 28.19 million, an increase of 760,000 from the previous year, accounting for 22.1 percent of the population. This is comprised of 12.03 million men and 16.16 million women aged 65 or over. In a reflection of the declining birth rate, the number of children aged 14 or below is estimated to be 17.18 million, falling short of those aged 70 or over. Japan's estimated total population came to 127.71 million, 50,000 fewer than last year. A total of 32.2 percent of those aged between 65 and 74 are working, up 1.1 points from the previous survey in 2002. Nagano Prefecture ranked top in terms of the ratio of those who are still working at 43.7 percent, followed by Fukui (40.1 percent), Yamanashi (39.9 percent) and Shizuoka and Ishikawa (both 37.7 percent). Many of them are engaged in farming or working in the manufacturing sector. Today is Respect-for-the-Aged Day in Japan Click here for the story on * Respect for the Aged Day Copyright 2008 The Mainichi Newspapers