Visualizing the Aging Population in Japan

Japan is currently the country with the highest proportion of people aged 65+.

Population ages 65 and above (% of total population) is licensed under CC BY-4.0

However, it has not always been this way.

Since 1960, 5 different countries has switched places as the country with the highest proportion of those age 65+. The black line in the graph below displays the percentage for the country with the 2nd highest percentage at each year.

Japan’s aging accelerated in the 1990s, passing dozens of countries before reaching its current position:

Population ages 65 and above (% of total population) is licensed under CC BY-4.0

Those who were born during the period with a high number of births have turned 65 in the past few decades while birth rates remained low, resulting in a growing elderly population.

Since 1990, no country’s growth in this demographic has been as large as Japan’s:

Population ages 65 and above (% of total population) is licensed under CC BY-4.0

But in recent years more countries are starting to see similar rates of increase in the elderly population.

Population ages 65 and above (% of total population) is licensed under CC BY-4.0

In the past 5 years, more than 10 countries have had a larger growth in the elderly population than Japan.

Population ages 65 and above (% of total population) is licensed under CC BY-4.0

However, it may still take some time for other countries to reach the same percentages as Japan.