Pensioners are ruining Japan

The number of pensioners in Japan for the first time exceeded 30 million people

Ksenia Naka, RIA Novosti

The number of people over the age of 65 in Japan has increased by a million over the year to 30.8 million people, which is almost a quarter of the country's population, such data is cited by the Ministry of National Affairs of Japan in a report published on Tuesday.

In total, 127.5 million people live in Japan, counting foreigners living in the country, and this number has decreased by 280 thousand people over the year. Pensioners make up 24.1% of the population. The number of children under the age of 14, on the contrary, has decreased by 150 thousand and now stands at 16.5 million or 13%. This is the lowest figure since 1950, when such statistics began to be conducted.

The aging of society is becoming not only a social, but also an economic problem for Japan: the existing pension system was designed for a ratio in which one pensioner accounted for 11 employees. In modern Japanese society, this ratio is 3:1.

These conditions dictate the need for a radical revision of the social insurance system, as well as measures such as raising the consumer tax to 10% instead of the current 5%. According to scientists, by 2040, pensioners will make up 40% of the population in half of Japanese prefectures.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru16.04.2013