Photo/Illutration Elderly people play with “otedama” bean-bag balls as a form of exercise in Nagasaki in December 2023. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The number of elderly people in Japan surged by 20,000 from September 2023 to 36.25 million, accounting for a record high 29.3 percent of the population, government figures showed.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications released its population estimates on Sept. 16, Respect-for-the-Aged Day, a national holiday.

The increase in the percentage of people over 65 years old, or the aging rate, was up 0.2 percentage points as of Sept. 15, the ministry said.

Both the elderly population and the aging rate were the highest since 1950, when such data became available.

The number of women 65 and over was 20.53 million, or 32.3 percent of Japan’s female population, while the number of senior citizen men was 15.72 million, or 26.1 percent of the male population.

By age group, those 75 and over rose in number by 710,000 to 20.76 million, accounting for 16.8 percent of the total population, up 0.7 percentage point.

Those 80 and over increased by 310,000 to 12.9 million, accounting for 10.4 percent of the total. The over-80 rate is up 0.3 percentage point from the previous year, when the ratio exceeded 10 percent for the first time.

“Baby boomers,” or the “dankai generation,” born between 1947 and 1949 will all be 75 or older by the end of this year.

Government officials are bracing for the “2025 problem,” when medical and long-term care services may not be able to keep pace with the aging population.

Japan’s aging rate of 29.3 percent is the highest among the world’s 200 countries and regions.

Among G-7 major countries, Italy’s aging rate is 24.6 percent, Germany’s is 23.2 percent, and France’s is 22.1 percent.

Japan’s aging rate is also significantly higher than South Korea’s 19.3 percent, China’s 14.7 percent and India’s 7.1 percent.

The number of working elderly people in Japan is also increasing.

According to a government labor force survey, the number of workers aged 65 and older in 2023 was a record high 9.14 million, up by 20,000 from the previous year.

It was the 20th consecutive year of increase.

However, the ratio of seniors in the overall workforce dipped by 0.1 percentage point to 13.5 percent.

The employment rate for those aged 65 and older was 25.2 percent, the same as the previous year.

The percentages of working people continued to increase in all age groups.

The latest rates available were 52 percent among those aged 65 to 69, 34 percent for those 70-74, and 11.4 percent of those 75 and over.

By industry, the wholesale and retail trade sector accounted for the largest number of elderly workers, at 1.32 million, followed by the medical care and welfare sector, at 1.07 million.

The number of elderly workers has jumped by 2.4 times over the past 10 years in the medical and welfare sector, which has suffered severe labor shortages.

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