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Going gray
The world’s population is getting older. Japan is on the forefront of this demographic trend that will affect Germany, China and Italy in coming years.
Japan is rapidly going grey. Thanks to a declining birth rate and one of the highest life expectancies, it has become the most aged society in the world.
About 28 percent of the population is 65 or older and that number is expected to grow in coming decades to more than 35 percent, straining the country’s social services.
Expenses for elderly care are growing. Essentially, a larger number of elderly are relying on fewer young people for economic output, tax revenues and physical and emotional care.
To boost government revenues for looming increase in fiscal social welfare spending, Prime Minster Shinzo Abe’s government plans to raise Japan’s sales tax to 10 percent from 8 percent in October.
Japan is on the forefront of a demographic transformation that is starting to envelop Germany, China and South Korea.
Although many developing countries have young, growing populations, global society as a whole is aging. This will place what the IMF describes as a “demographic tax” on economic growth.
Emptying countryside
Over the next 30 years, nearly all parts of Japan will see their elderly population rise 5 to 20 percent, with the biggest changes coming in the northern rural areas, particularly the prefectures of Fukushima, which was devastated by the 2011 tsunami and nuclear crises, and Akita.