Japan: Long-Term Care Needs and Population Projections

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

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.

Population, Mid-Year 2019: 126,860,000
Projected Population Mid-Year 2030: 120,758,000
Percentage of Population Under Age 25 Years, Mid-Year 2019: 22%
Percentage of Population 65 Years Or Over, Mid-Year 2019: 28%

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects 2019: Data Booklet (ST/ESA/SER.A/424).

“As Japan’s total population began to decline while the older population continued increasing, the proportion of older people in the population (aged 65 years or older) rose from 17.4% in 2000 to 26.7% in 2015. It is expected that the proportion of older people will reach 39.4% in 2055 (Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, 2016). As a result of the two baby booms (1947–1949 and 1971–1974), the population of older people above 75 years of age will reach its peak in 2025.”

Source: Sakamoto H, Rahman M, Nomura S, Okamoto E, Koike S, Yasunaga H et al. Japan Health System Review. Vol. 8 No. 1. New Delhi: World Health Organization, Regional Office for South-East Asia, 2018.

“The traditional family system in Japan placed primary responsibility for support of older people on families, and nearly 55% of people aged 65 years and above lived with their children in 1995. However, the proportion of one-person households among this older population more than doubled between 1975 and 1995. With rapid demographic change and the dissolution of traditional family structures, the government took a number of measures to promote the “socialization of care” for frail older people during the mid-1990s. In response to the expected shift from traditional family care to social care, the Japanese government started the national LTCI [Long-Term Care Insurance] system in 2000 to alleviate the burden on family caregivers.

“LTCI is based on the Long-Term Care Insurance Act (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 2016b). This system aims to certify the care-level needs of the elderly and to provide care services suited to this level. There are seven care levels, including two requiring support (levels 1 and 2) and five requiring long-term care (levels 1–5). Although the original purpose of LTCI was to support the elderly with physical and/or cognitive malfunction due to ageing, its focus has been shifting from supporting disabilities to promoting self-independence. The total number of the elderly certified as requiring one of these care levels was reported to be 5.69 million in 2013 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 2016b), which is twice the number it was at the time the system was implemented in 2000 (2,180,000 beneficiaries) (Olivares-Tirado P et al., 2011). Because of this, the sustainability of the system has been a major issue.”

Source: Sakamoto H, Rahman M, Nomura S, Okamoto E, Koike S, Yasunaga H et al. Japan Health System Review. Vol. 8 No. 1. New Delhi: World Health Organization, Regional Office for South-East Asia, 2018.

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 several other nations.

Page last updated Dec. 3, 2020 by Doug McVay, Editor.