Japanese people aged 65 or older now account for nearly 30 percent of the population, government data show.
Japan's elderly population has reached a record 36.25 million people, with those aged 65 or older now accounting for nearly a third of Japanese, according to government data.
Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Sunday that the elderly make up about 29.3 percent of the population, a higher proportion than in any other country or region with more than 100,000 people.
About 20.53 million of the people aged 65 and above are women, while 15.72 million are men, the ministry said.
The data also showed that a record 9.14 million older people were employed last year, representing one in seven employees.
Japan is facing a worsening demographic crisis as a dwindling number of working-age people are forced to bear rising costs for health care and welfare for the elderly.
Japan's population fell by 595,000 people in the year to Oct. 1, marking the 13th consecutive year of decline.
The Tokyo-based National Institute of Population and Social Security Research has projected that elderly Japanese will account for 34.8 percent of the country's population by 2040.
A study released last year by the Recruit Works Institute, a Tokyo think tank, said Japan could face a shortage of more than 11 million workers by 2040 due to its declining population.
