Number of elderly in Japan hits record high

by Sanjay Jha | May 20, 2008 at 08:06 pm | 86 views | add comment | 0 recommendations

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Japan is facing acute problem of longetivity and a recent report has confirmed huge rise in the elderly population. Government is taking measures to increase the retirement age. The latest report has brought worst fear in the Japanese society. The report said that by 2050s: one-quarter of the total population of less than 90 million will be 75 or older.

The number of elderly in Japan hit a record high of more than 27 million in 2007, the government reported Tuesday, warning of an imminent pension crisis as the country rapidly ages.
The annual report by the Cabinet Office showed Japanese aged 65 or over making up 21.5 percent of the population last year, while the so-called "late-stage elderly" — those 75 or older — accounted for nearly 10 percent.
"We have become a full-fledged aged society," the report declared.
"The pace of aging has reached the highest level (among advanced countries) at the beginning of the 21st century, and is expected to enter a phase that no other country in the world has yet experienced," the study added.