Why is Japan one of the world's oldest societies, and what does it mean?
Elderly people outnumbered children in Japan in 1997, and in 2014 adult diapers outsold baby diapers.
▶ Start the storyBecause people live longer and fewer babies are born, and both trends started earlier and moved faster than in most countries. Japan has the second highest proportion of elderly citizens in the world. rose rapidly after the war, from 54 years for women and 50 for men at its end, and Japan's has been below the of 2.1 since 1974.
The pace stands out. The share of the population aged 65 or over roughly doubled in 24 years in Japan, from 7.1 percent in 1970 to 14.1 percent in 1994. The same increase took 115 years in France. From 1974 to 2014 the number of people aged 65 or over nearly quadrupled, while the share of children aged 14 and under fell from 24.3 percent to 12.8 percent. The number of elderly people passed the number of children in 1997, and in 2014 adult diapers outsold baby diapers.
Years it took the 65-and-over share to double (7% to 14%)
years
| Years to double | |
|---|---|
| Japan | 24 years |
| Italy | 61 years |
| Sweden | 85 years |
| France | 115 years |
Why fewer children? The source lists many factors, including later and fewer marriages, higher education, urbanisation, poor work-life balance, small living spaces and the high cost of raising a child. After a post-war baby boom from 1947 to 1949 and a long period of low fertility, the population began to decline after peaking at 128.1 million in October 2008.
The consequences cut both ways. Low births and high invert the , so a narrowing base of young people must provide and care for a bulging older group. Yet a smaller population could make crowded cities more livable. Japanese citizens, the source says, largely view Japan as comfortable and modern, with no widespread sense of a population crisis, and the government has responded with policies on fertility and on the activity of the elderly.
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Recap
Longer lives plus fewer births turned the pyramid upside down, and the share of over-65s doubled faster in Japan than in Italy, Sweden or France.
💡 A trick to remember it · A pyramid turned on its tip: the top grows heavier while the base gets narrower.
Surprising fact · In 2014, sales of adult diapers surpassed diapers for babies.
Sources (1)
No source, no claim. Every fact in this lesson (15 claims) cites at least one of these.