Population shrinking 30 pc by 2055: Japan

TOKYO, Dec 21: Japan's population is expected to shrink by 30 percent to slightly below 90 million by 2055, a health ministry report said.

At the same time, the government said it would increase spending to make it easier to raise children.

The report, which revises down a population forecast made in 2002, also said the proportion of Japanese aged over 65 would double to 40.5 per cent.

Japan, which already has the world's highest proportion of elderly people and the lowest proportion of young people, has seen its population shrink since peaking in 2004. It now stands at around 127 million.

The declining population has raised concern over the country's longer-term economic growth potential and the government's ability to fund its ballooning pension requirements.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sought to allay fears over future pension payouts but expressed concern over the current demographic trend.

''It's not as if the pension system will collapse,'' Abe told reporters yesterday.

''We need to do whatever we can to implement measures to resolve the falling birthrate to prevent the rate from going any lower,'' he told reporters.

Japan unveiled a draft budget yesterday that boosted spending on childcare support and day-care centres.

REUTERS