Japan becomes an ageing society

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Tokyo, May 20 : Japan has become ‘a full-fledged’ ageing society with almost 10% of its total population now 75 or older, a government white paper showed.

The 2008 White Paper on Ageing Society said the number of people aged 75 or older increased by 540,000 from a year earlier to 12.7 million as of October 1, 2007, representing 9.9% of Japan's total population, up 0.4% point. The population of the aged — defined as being 65 or older — was given as an all-time high of 27.46 million, up 860,000 from a year before, the white paper said. Such people accounted for 21.5% of the nation's total population, up 0.7 point.

The percentage share of the aged will keep growing, reaching 40.5% in 2055, while total population will decline to 89.93 million, the white paper estimated based on statistics compiled by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. The white paper defended the government's newly introduced system of supporting surging medical costs for those aged 75 or older.

On an average, insurance premiums are lower compared with those under the previous system, the paper said.