Japanese elderly now outnumber children.
Posted on 04/20/2013 3:49:03 AM PDT by NYer
Japanese elderly now outnumber children.
TOKYO, April 19, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Japan is seeing the most rapid decline in population of any country on earth, according to the World Population Data Sheet produced by the U.S. Population Reference Bureau.
A newly released report on demographic trends by the Japanese government reveals that Japan's population continues to plummet, and that 2012 saw the biggest population drop since record-keeping began in the 1950s.
On October 1, 2012, the country’s population was estimated at 127,515,000, down 0.22 percent from the previous year, said the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in a April 16 report.
Japan’s birth rate, which is well below replacement level, combined with an ever-increasing number of deaths, has resulted in the country’s population falling by a record 284,000 in 2012.
According to the report, the number of births in 2012 fell to a record low of 1,033,000, down by 18,000 from 2011.
The report pointed out that 40 of Japan's 47 prefectures saw a significant population decline, and Fukushima - the area of the nuclear disaster due to the 2011 tsunami - ranked highest with a plunge of 1.41 percent.
The government report also showed that Japanese society continues to age, with people aged 65 or over estimated at 30,793,000, up 1,041,000 from the previous year.
They now account for a record high 24.1 percent of the total population.
The report also stated that, for the first time, the elderly outnumber children aged 14 and under.
The island has a projected population of 120 million in 2025, but only 95 million by 2050.
The Japanese government's estimates predict that by 2060, Japan will have 87 million people, while the number of people 65 or older will nearly double, to 40 percent.
According to Japan's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, in 1995 the working age population hit its high point at 87 million. In 2004 this had dropped to 85.08 million, and by the end of 2010 stood at 81.07 million.
The agency estimates that by 2060 the national work force of people between ages 15 and 65 is expected to shrink to about half of the total population.
"The bare facts are shocking enough," remarked Steven Mosher of the Population Research Institute.
"Japan’s fertility rate, at 1.1 children per woman, has never been lower, and it is still falling from year to year," he said. "Japan already has the oldest population in the world and, with virtually no immigration, there appears to be no way out of the looming democide. The elderly will die, and there will be fewer people and far fewer workers in the Home Islands in the years to come."
He concluded, "The solution is obvious, but the Japanese people have to want more children for there to be more children."
I was there when the dollar was 250 yen. Not too bad; still, I’d always advise anyone who’s thinking of going, even now, just to get up and go.
It’s a great country and livig there is a great experience.
I have to agree.
Dad was stationed there and we traveled back and forth on MSTS (the Army’s navy.) I made six Pacific crossings 1951-1961.
Good Points, Thank you for them.
“Government based on buying votes is doomed to failure.”
Only after taking the whole country down with it. There is no way our current downward spiral will reverse itself before the big crash—too many takers, too many people who want their share before the next taker, too many people who lack a sound moral foundation, the dominant daily communication of “me first”, instant gratitude, I deserve it, all feed into this downward spiral. Just prepare is all we can do at this point. And I’m an optimist.
“Population decline is not necessarily a bad thing.”
It is when it’s deeply involved in a ponzi scheme. :-)
How do I get on that ping list?
Nice shade of blue there.
I suspect that population density might have some long term adverse affect on population growth.
Japan is ranked as one of the most densely populated countries already and that ranking does not even consider that the % of it’s livable land space compared to its total land space is one of the lowest. There is no “spacious western lands” in Japan to move to if one wanted to.
I am wondering in my mind if Japan were able to sustain itself during a period when its population density would decline from the high it is today, if there would be seen, after some time, a trend of improving Japanese birth rates? Just a curiosity to me.
Was population rising or falling during the Renaissance?
So guiltless, she should be canonized.
They will eventually become a colony of China.
I traveled to Japan via MSTS in 1954, as a toddler. Spent three years there and came home with two more baby brothers. I still have the Order of The Golden Dragon certificate they gave to the passengers.
Later we shipped to Okinawa (Dad was Special Forces in Nam) and stayed for three years.
Do you remember the name of the ship you sailed on ?
I have two “Order of the Golden Dragon” cards for passing over the International Date Line...
Remember? Heck no, but I can get it off the cert....it was the USNS General E.D. Patrick.
Not sure if we returned by sea from Japan, but we flew to Oki and back in the mid sixties.
I guess you might have had boundaries defined in your mind when you answered me, but I had none. There’s nothing to “argue”.
Nor does history show us an example of a successful society that out-grew its resources. What’s your point?
What ?! Not every man has a 10-inch penis?
Not every woman LOVES everything you do to her no matter what, and in record time?
Say it ain't so ..... (/off sarc)
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