Japan population forecast to shrink 30% by 2070

An elderly man checks his mobile phone in front a station in Tokyo. People aged 65 or more are forecast to make up 40% of Japan’s population in 2070. (Photo: Reuters)

TOKYO: Japan’s total population in 2070 is expected to fall to 87 million, shrinking 30% from its level in 2020, according to a new government estimate.

The country’s population, numbering 126.15 million as of 2020, is forecast to fall below 100 million in 2056, the National Institute of Population and Security Research said on Wednesday.