Japan's Elderly Population Rises to Record, Government Says

Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Japan, among the world's most rapidly aging countries, has a record proportion of elderly people, accounting for 21.5 percent of the total, according to a government report.

The number of people aged 65 or older totaled 27.4 million as of Sept. 15, up 0.7 percentage point from 26.5 million a year earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said yesterday in a statement. There were 7.13 million people aged 80 or older, the first time the figure has topped 7 million, the ministry said.

Sustainability of the pension system remains a primary concern in Japan, where about 30 million people receive benefits. Population in the country may decline by 25 percent to 95.2 million by 2050 from 127.8 million in 2005, according to a health ministry forecast.

To contact the reporter on this story: Naoko Fujimura in Tokyo at nfujimura@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Drew Gibson at dgibson2@bloomberg.net