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Population, Midyear 2022: 123,951,692
Population Density (Number of Persons per Square Kilometer): 328.94
Life Expectancy at Birth, 2022: 84.82
Projected Population, Midyear 2030: 118,514,802
Percentage of Total Population Aged 65 and Older, Midyear 2022: 29.92%
Projected Percentage of Total Population Aged 65 and Older, Midyear 2030: 31.38%
Projected Percentage of Total Population Aged 65 and Older, Midyear 2050: 37.50%

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2023). Data Portal, custom data acquired via website. United Nations: New York. Accessed 12 May 2023.

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Percent of Adults Aged 65 Years and Over Reporting To Be In Good Or Very Good Health (2015): 25.4%
People With Dementia Per 1,000 Population (2017): 23.3
Projected Number of People With Dementia Per 1,000 Population in 2037: 38.4
Long-Term Care Workers Per 100 People Aged 65 And Over (2015): 6
Long-Term Care Beds In Institutions and Hospitals Per 1,000 Population Aged 65 And Over (2015): 34.3
Long-Term Care Expenditure (Health and Social Components) By Government and Compulsory Insurance Schemes, as a Share of GDP (%) (2015): 2.0%

Source: OECD (2017), Health at a Glance 2017: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris. dx.doi.org/10.1787/health_glance-2017-en

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Formal Long-Term Care Workers At Home (FTE) (2017): 995,389
Formal Long-Term Care Workers In Institutions (FTE) (2017): 425,184
Long-Term Care Recipients In Institutions Other Than Hospitals (2018): 939,900
Long-Term Care Recipients At Home (2006): 2,724,100

Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. OECD.Stat. Last accessed Oct. 15, 2019.

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“Japan is aging rapidly, those over 65 already constituted 27.7% of the total population in 2017. This figure is the highest in the world and is projected to grow continuously up to 38.4% in 2065 (1). However, population aging is a result of remarkable success in health improvement and economic development in a country or region, and a similar trend is becoming visible globally, particularly in Asia. Hence, Japan is only a front runner of a future aging world, and her experience will be beneficial for countries that are to follow. However, the demographic impact of aging is more complicated than just a growing number of senior citizens. Another side of the coin is that decline in birthrate to below the death rate results in population decrease, and especially reduction of the young workforce.”

Source: Nakatani H. (2019). Population aging in Japan: policy transformation, sustainable development goals, universal health coverage, and social determinates of health. Global health & medicine, 1(1), 3–10. doi.org/10.35772/ghm.2019.01011.

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Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems in the US and sixteen other nations.

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Page last updated May 13, 2023 by Doug McVay, Editor.