Earlier this week, Japan celebrated its Respect for the Aged Day with the fact that the country has a record amount of elderly citizens to celebrate this national day.
Government data have shown that Japan’s population aged more that 65 has risen to the highest in history of 36.25 million.
Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication has reported that the country’s total population has been on a decline, but the elderly population aged 65 and above has grown to 29.3% of the population, the highest in the world.
Robert Feldman, chief economist at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities, commented that the data amplifies worries about a shift in demographic and country’s labor crunch.
A Teikoku Databank survey last month revealed that 50% of Japanese companies in all sectors notice that there is a shortage of full-time workers, Feldman noted that the labor-intensive industries like food services will be affected the most by labor shortages.
2023 saw the number of workers aged over 65 rise for the 20th consecutive year reaching 9.14 million, according to Statistic Bureau data.
Feldman warned that after these elderly workers retired, there won’t be enough young workers to replace them.
The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research unveiled that the recent trends showed Japan’s elderly population will continue to rise, hitting 34.8% in 2024, at the same time Feldman estimated that the total labor force could drop from around 69.3 million in 2023 to around 49.1 million in 2050 base on demographic trend.
