Japan’s elderly population grows to its largest share yet
Pedestrians at the Sugamo Jizo-dori shopping street, which is popular among elderly people, in the Toshima district of Tokyo | BLOOMBERG
Sep 21, 2026
Japan’s elderly population has risen to 29.6% of the country’s total, the highest percentage on record, according to the latest government data.
The number of people age 65 and older stood at an estimated 36.24 million as of Sept. 15, up 20,000 from a year earlier, according to figures released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications ahead of Respect for the Aged Day on Monday. The share of the population age 65 and over increased 0.2 percentage point from a year earlier.
Japan had the highest proportion of people age 65 and older among 39 countries with populations of at least 40 million people, ahead of Italy’s 25.6%, Germany’s 24.2% and France’s 22.9%.
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