10% of Japan’s population now over 75: Statistics Bureau

November 28, 2007
By Ken Worsley

In 1950, 1.3% of Japan’s population was over the age of 75. Today, that same group of people make up over 10% of the population, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Thus, as the Japan Times sums it up, “As of Nov[ember] 1, Japan’s population was estimated at 127.79 million, with 12.76 million…aged 75 or older.”

On the other side of the birthday cake, those aged 14 or younger accounted for 13.5% of the population as of November 2007. In 1950, that same age group represented 34.5% of the population.

As the chart to the left (click for a full-size view) indicates, Japan’s population is growing increasingly top-heavy. In a draft copy of its annual policy statement released yesterday, the Cabinet Office stated:

The state of the country’s public finances is extremely severe and it is apparent that future generations will be forced to bear a bigger burden as the population further shrinks and ages.

The paper goes on to recommend a 3 percent cut in public spending, which may leave some scratching their heads, since Japan’s politicians - especially in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party - have been calling for the exact opposite; they would like to put public spending on the rise, in order to please their constituencies with jobs and money, with the endgame being to hold off the rising opposition Democratic Party of Japan.

One looming problem is that the government plans to up its share of pension contributions from the current 37% to 50% by fiscal 2010. There is not yet a clear plan for coming up with this cash, though many assume that it may take the form of a hike in the sales tax, which the Ministry of Finance seems resigned to.

Of course, a sales tax increase would be a dangerous political gambit. Just last week, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said that such a move is not in cards for 2008, despite his party’s tax panel recommending a hike from five to ten percent.

Perhaps it’s about time to take the issue out of the hands, control, and responsibility of the prime minister himself.

Filed Under Demographics, Japan, Politics