Japan has record 100,000 people aged over 100: How societies are ageing

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare reported that 107,677 people aged 100 or older were living in the country this year, the highest figure on record and an increase of 7,914 from 2025. Women make up almost 88% of that group, and the total marks the 56th consecutive year that the number of centenarians has risen. Officials and health authorities point to advances in medical care, healthy diets and active lifestyles as contributors to rising longevity. At the same time, Japan is experiencing a sustained fall in births that is driving an accelerating population decline. The government recorded around 700,000 births last year while more than 800,000 people were aged 95 or older. Preliminary census data for 2025 showed population decreases in 45 of Japan’s 47 prefectures compared with five years earlier, with only Tokyo and Okinawa seeing growth. Demographers and policymakers warn that the demographic shift is producing an uneven age structure: nearly three in ten residents are now 65 or older, a share projected to climb toward 40% by 2070. Japan’s total fertility rate dropped to a record low of 1.14 in 2025, far below the roughly 2.1 children per woman needed to sustain a population without migration. The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research projects the national population could fall from about 128 million at its 2008 peak to roughly 87 million by 2070. The ageing trend is creating fiscal and labour-market challenges. A smaller working-age population means fewer income taxpayers and social-security contributors at a time when spending on pensions, medical care and elderly support is rising. Labour shortages are reported across sectors including construction, agriculture, transport and healthcare, with rural areas particularly affected as younger people migrate to urban centres. Japan has expanded child allowances, childcare subsidies and parental leave, and its foreign population has increased modestly, but these measures have not reversed long-term declines in births and remain politically sensitive as ways to offset shrinking labour supply.