Economic growth depends on the rates of population increase and technological evolution, among other factors. Technological evolution relies on the capacities of human beings. So its kernel factor is human power.
At the outset of the 21st century, the perception that "international competition is competition over human resources" widely prevails, and the prediction that China will become the world's largest economic power, surpassing the United States in 2030, is taking on a tinge of reality.
As far as Japan is concerned, the aging and numerical decline of its population is rapid, and if this trend persists much longer, its economic scale is bound to shrink and its international status will decline. Japan's population reached a peak of 127.77 million in 2004. The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research predicts that this country's population will be down to about 90 million in 2055.