TOKYO: The number of Japanese aged 65 or older climbed 3.2 per cent in the past year to an all-time high of 26.4 million people and now accounts for 20.7 per cent of the populace, the government said on Sunday.

The numbers reinforce Japan’s trend towards a rapidly aging society, a development that is raising concerns about how the government will be able to pay ever-increasing medical and pension costs for the rising ranks of elderly.

The figures were released days after the government announced that the number of Japanese living beyond 100 has almost quadrupled in the past 10 years, with the once-exclusive centenarian club expected to surpass 28,000 this year. The health ministry said last week that Japan was likely to have 28,395 citizens aged 100 or older at the end of September, a jump from last year’s record 25,554 — of which women comprised 85 per cent. The ministry conducted a nationwide survey. The figures show that the percentage of the overall population above 65 grew by 0.7 of a percentage point in a year to a record high of 20.7 per cent as of September 15.

The data, compiled by the internal affairs and communications ministry, stretches back to 1950, when only 4.9 per cent of the population were 65 or older.

This year the percentage aged 75 or older also hit a high of 9.5 per cent, at 12.08 million people.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service