Japan once again breaks the record for centenarians, 10% of the population is over 80 years old – Observer

Japan registered, for the first time, 10% of the population over 80 years of age and once again broke the record for centenarians, who now exceed 92 thousand, according to government data released this Monday, on Respect for the Elderly Day.

Around 12.69 million people in the country had 80 years or more on September 15, which represents for the first time a tenth of the total, according to the Japanese government’s demographic estimates. Close to 36.23 million people in the country have 65 years or olderwhich represents 29.1% of the population, an increase of 0.1% compared to the previous year, according to the same data released for the holiday, which takes place on the third Monday in September.

The Japan Population and Social Security Research Institute estimated that, in 2040, people over 65 will represent 34.8% of the Japanese population.

The Asian country also beat the record of centenarians, estimated at 92,139, of which 88.5% are women, said the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Security. This is the 53rd consecutive annual increase and confirms the rapid aging of the country, which already has 73.74 centenarians per 100 thousand inhabitants. The oldest person in Japan is a woman, Fusa Tatsumi116 years old, who lives in the province of Osaka, in the west of the country.

When these data began to be collected, in 1963, there were 153 centenarians in Japan. In 1981, there were more than a thousand and, in 1998, more than 10 thousand, an increase in longevity that experts attribute mainly to the development of technologies and treatments doctors.