Japan Passes Italy as Most Elderly Nation

The Japanese Government said on June 30 that Japan had surpassed Italy as the world's most elderly nation, fueling concerns over the effects of a rapidly aging population on the world's second-largest economy.

People aged 65 or older accounted for 21% of Japan's population in 2005, the Ministry of International Affairs and Communication said in a preliminary report.

The ratio of people under 15 also hit the world's lowest level at 13.6%, dipping below Bulgaria's 13.8%, according to the report, based on a nationwide census taken last year.

The Wall Street Journal says that the plunging birth rate and an expanding elderly population pose serious concerns for Japan as it struggles to tackle a labor shortage and eroding tax base.

Japan's population dropped in 2005 for the first time on record, spurring a spate of measures to encourage women to have more babies. The government began a five-year project to build more daycare centers, while encouraging men to take paternity leave. Towns and villages have also launched matchmaking services to get more people to marry.

The country's birthrate in 2005 stood at a record low of 1.25 babies per woman, far below the 2.1 rate needed to keep the population steady.