Japan's population as of last October fell for the fourth consecutive year and saw people 65 or older accounting for a record 26 percent of the total, government data showed Friday.
A survey by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry showed the population fell by 215,000, or 0.17 percent, from a year earlier to 127,083,000 as of Oct. 1, a decline of about 1 million from its peak in 2008.
The pace of the decline fits the outlook of the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, which predicts the population will drop to as low as 86.74 million in 2060, making Japan the global leader in aging.