Quantified Stream

Visualizing the Aging Population in Japan

Published on


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

Bar graph of countries by the percentage of total population that is ages 65 and above

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

However, it has not always been this way.

Line graph labeling the country with the highest proportion of ages 65 and above for each year

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:

Line graph of change in percentage of population ages 65 and above between 1960 and 2020 for the 30 countries with the highest proportions in 2020

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.

Line graph of change in number of births in Japan highlighting the years people who turned 65 between 1990 and 2015 were born in

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

Change in percentage of ages 65+ between 1990 and 2020

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.

Line graph of change in percentage of population ages 65 and above between 1990 and 2020 for the 30 countries with the highest proportions in 2020

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.

Change in percentage of ages 65+ between 2015 and 2020

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.