Japan's population has fallen for the sixth consecutive year, though a rise in the number of foreign residents has cushioned the pace of decline, reported Kyodo News.
The population stood at 126.93 million as of Oct. 1, down 162,000 from a year earlier. The number of Japanese declined by a record 299,000 to 125.02 million, but foreign residents rose by a record 136,000, according to data released last week by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The population continues to agglomerate in and around larger cities.
“Superaging” society
The data shows that Japan is continuing on the path toward a “superaging society” as a result of high life expectancies and a fertility rate below the replacement level, with the sustainability of pensions and other social security services unclear.
The number of people who died in the year through last September exceeded the number of babies born by 296,000, producing a natural decline in the population for the 10th consecutive year. A record 27.3% of the population was aged 65 or above. The proportion of working-age people, from ages 15 to 64, fell to 60.3%, the lowest level since 1951.
The government has set a target for keeping the population at 100 million in 2060, but that is questionable given current trends. The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research projects that Japan’s population will be below 100 million in 2053 and 88 million by 2065.
Pressure on healthcare
There are fears that such demographics will put pressure on the economy and necessitate an overhaul of the national pension and medical care systems, creating questions such as cutting pension payments, hiking fees for public nursing care and increasing contributions from the wealthy elderly.
In 1965, the social security system assumed that 9.1 workers between ages 20 and 64 would support each individual 65 or older, but in 2065 the figure is projected to drop to only 1.2 workers.