While Japan's population has long been both shrinking and getting older, Asia's second biggest economy may be nearing a point of no return, according to government reports and officials.
As of October 2022, Japan's population was 124.94 million, a decrease of over half a million people from 2021 and the twelfth consecutive annual decline, according to a late April report from Japan's Statistics Bureau. The bureau said the number of working-aged Japanese between 15 to 64 fell to 74.2 million, or 58 percent of the population, the lowest percentage since 1945. Meanwhile, the number of people over 65 rose to 36.23 million, or 29 percent of the population, the highest percentage since 1920.
These trends first emerged in the early 1990s, at the tail end of the Japanese economic miracle decade. Low birth rates and high life expectancy together pose an unprecedented challenge for Tokyo's policymakers, whose search for solutions is being scrutinized in neighboring capitals.
Rapid Depopulation
Japan's depopulation affected all prefectures except Tokyo last year and outpaced official projections. In 2022, the number of newborns fell below 800,000 for the first time since surveys began in 1899. The government previously had not expected births to dip near 800,000 until 2027.
If present trends hold, annual births could fall below half a million in 2059, the health ministry-affiliated National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (IPSS) recently said in its twice-a-decade estimate.
Esta historia es de la edición May 19, 2023 de Newsweek Europe.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición May 19, 2023 de Newsweek Europe.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Zachary Quinto
ZACHARY QUINTO HAS PLAYED DOCTORS BEFORE, BUT HE'S \"NEVER PLAYED a doctor like\" the one he plays on NBC's Brilliant Minds (September 23).
Adam Brody
NETFLIX KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT MILLENNIALS want, and it's to see Adam Brody and Kristen Bell fall in love.
Partners in Crime
Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt shares his delight at teaming up with Shailene Woodley again in new Amazon Prime movie Killer Heat
HOW TO FIND A WORKPLACE THAT LOVES YOU BACK
Insights from America's Top Most Loved Workplaces
MOST LOVED WORKPLACES 2024
AT A TIME WHEN WORKERS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES CONTINUE TO redefine what they expect from their jobs, the companies on Newsweek's annual list of the Most Loved Workplaces in America are setting the standard for what a fulfilling workplace looks like.
Q&A LEE YARON
With 10/7, the professional became profoundly personal.
SDEROT INTERSECTION
How Jewish and Arab strangers united to rescue two little girls amidst Hamas' October 7 attack
No End in Sight
AS TENSIONS CONTINUE TO FLARE AT ISRAEL'S BORDERS, NEWSWEEK DISCOVERS HOW LIFE HAS CHANGED IN THE REGION A YEAR ON FROM THE OCTOBER 7 HAMAS ATTACKS
Thai Scammers Set Sights on US
Newsweek looks inside the Southeast Asian country's $2 billion cybercrime industry and how American citizens are now falling prey to sophisticated schemes run overseas
PARTING SHOT: Sarah Paulson
\"CAN YOU IMAGINE IF THE AIR WAS JUST FILLED WITH DUST PARTICLES and you literally could not breathe?\" That's what Sarah Paulson is tackling in her new film Hold Your Breath (October 3).