Photo/Illutration The building housing the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

A graying population and COVID-19 helped lead to a record number of deaths in Japan in 2022, the largest increase since the end of World War II.

Health ministry officials released population figures on June 14 showing 1,568,961 deaths, or about 129,000 more than the previous year.

Deaths among those 80 and older increased by 109,000 compared to 2021, which represented about 85 percent of the increase in deaths.

“Senior citizens are more easily affected over the long term by changes in their living environment,” said Shuhei Nomura, a specially appointed associate professor of global public health science at Keio University, who is knowledgeable about death analysis.

“The health of many likely weakened due to the combination of novel coronavirus infections and fewer social activities brought about by requests for restraint.”

Deaths by natural causes totaled about 180,000, an increase of about 27,000 from the previous year.

The leading cause of death in 2022 was cancer, with about 386,000 succumbing to some form of the disease. The figure represented 24.6 percent of the total.

The second leading cause was heart disease, with about 233,000 deaths, or 14.8 percent of the total.

Deaths attributable to natural causes because the individual was of an advanced age was the third leading cause of death.

There were only about 48,000 deaths directly attributed to COVID-19, but experts have long pointed out that the illness likely had an indirect effect on many.

For example, the health of those with pre-existing conditions might have worsened after contracting the novel coronavirus, while the health of others might have weakened during the time people were asked to restrain their outdoor activities.

Others might have been unable to receive adequate medical treatment because of the pressures placed on the medical care structure by COVID-19.

The overall graying of the population has elevated natural causes as leading causes of death.

In 2013, only about 70,000 people died of natural causes, but three years later they became the fifth leading cause of death. In 2017, they rose to the fourth leading cause, and the following year replaced cerebral vascular disease as the third leading cause.

The 11.4 percent of deaths due to natural causes in 2022 represented a doubling of the ratio from 2013, and the actual number of such deaths rose 2.6 times from nine years previous. 

The total number of recorded deaths over the past five years is used to estimate the number of deaths for a regular year.

But a comparison of the actual number of deaths found that there were about 10,000 more deaths due to natural causes in 2022 than the estimate.

Keio's Nomura said the trend would likely continue this year.

“The central and local governments should work more to understand the health conditions of senior citizens and implement measures to provide greater care and more opportunities for them to take part in social activities,” he said.

Related News