Tokyo, Jan 30 (IANS) Japan’s population is expected to dwindle by around 30 percent to 86.74 million by 2060 if the birthrate does not increase, according to an estimate released Monday by authorities.
Japan is one of the world’s most rapidly ageing countries and has one of the lowest birthrates, said Xinhua.
The estimate also projected that people aged 65 or older will account for 39.9 percent of total population in 2060, rising from 23.0 percent in 2010, said the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
An institute, which provides the 50-year demographic forecast approximately every five years, said the pace of population decline has slightly slowed since the previous estimate in 2006.
The total fertility rate, the expected number of children born per woman during her child-bearing years, stood at 1.39 in 2010 and will keep falling until it bottoms at 1.33 in 2024, it said.
Japan needs at least a 2.07 average to keep the population at the current level, according to the institution.
Average life expectancy will continue to go upward in Japan, as the institution projects an increase from 86.39 years in 2012 to 90.93 years in 2060 for women and from 79.64 years to 84.19 years for men during the same period.
