Japan''s elderly population hits new record

Tokyo, September 21

The number of Japanese aged 65 and above has risen to a new record of about 33.8 million people or 26.7 per cent of the population, the media reported.

The internal affairs ministry has said that about 33.84 million people aged 65 or over were living in Japan, NHK news agency reported.

That is an increase of 890,000 from the same period last year. Men accounted for about 14.62 million of the total and women, 19.21 million.

People in the elderly age bracket now account for a record 26.7 per cent of Japan's population -- an increase of 0.8 percentage points from last year.

The number of Japanese aged 80 and above has risen by 380,000 from last year to 10.02 million, topping 10 million for the first time.

The ministry added the number of working elderly increased for 11 years in a row to reach a new record figure of 6.81 million in 2014.

—IANS