Share of Japan's population aged 65 or older hits record high 29.4 percent: gov't

Of the 36.19 million elderly in the rapidly aging country, those with jobs rose for the 21st straight year to a record 9.3 million, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said, as Japan marks Respect for the Aged Day on Monday.

The ratio means one in seven workers in Japan is elderly. The industrial safety and health law, revised in May, obliges companies to improve working conditions for senior employees as the risk of work-related injuries rises with age.

While Japan's population aged 65 or older totaled 15.68 million men and 20.51 million women, the combined figure was 50,000 fewer than a year earlier, the ministry said.

The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research projects Japan's senior population will climb to 39.28 million in 2040, or 34.8 percent of the total, underscoring demographic pressures as the 1971-74 second baby boom generation enters old age.

Among countries with populations of 40 million or more, Italy trails Japan with 25.1 percent aged 65 or older, followed by Germany at 23.7 percent.

Japan showed a particularly high rate of people aged 75 or older at 17.2 percent, compared with other nations with large senior populations, according to the government.

The ministry also said most elderly workers in 2024 were part-time or contract employees, with many employed in wholesale and retail businesses.

Research claims over 10% of Japan elderly to have no close kin in 2050.