People age 80 and over topped 10% of Japan's population for the first time, government data showed Sunday, as the country with the world's highest proportion of older people continues to grapple with a rapidly aging society.
The number of people in the age bracket swelled by 270,000 from the previous year to 10.1% of Japan's total population of around 124.6 million, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said ahead of Monday's Respect for the Aged Day.
In another record, those age 65 and older, defined as the elderly in Japan, accounted for 29.1% of the total population at 36.2 million, meaning the country continues to have the largest proportion of this age group worldwide, the data showed as of Friday.