Population of Japan

The census of 2005 shows Japan's population to be at 127.76 million which was the 10th largest in the world and the population of Japan contributed to about 2.0 % of the total global population. The density of population per square kilometer in Japan was recorded at 343 in the 2005 census. A balanced growth in the population of Japan was seen after the Meiji Restoration period in 1868. The population of Japan scaled to reach the level of the 100 million mark in 1967 but after that a drastic fall in population was witnessed. With each successive year it is seen that the population of Japan is undergoing a sharp decline.

Both the birth and death rates of the population of Japan has been on a sharp decline. In the 2005 census it was seen that the population of elderly citizens constituted for about 21% of the total population while the youth comprises of only 13.65% of the total population of Japan. The working population of Japan according to the 2005 census was at 83.37 million which too showed a declining trend. The ratio of dependent population which is at 53.0% clearly shows that the Japanese economy is no longer as stable as it was during the 70's and 80's and there is the rising problem of unemployment. Another alarming factor is that the elderly are slowly outstripping the younger population.

Increase in the population of Japan has always been influenced by natural increase but the census of 2005 showed a negative rate of natural increase. The birth rate of Japan had increased in the years of the baby boom which occurred twice in the history of the nation and for the last time in the 1970's but after that the population has witnessed no further rise.

The city of Tokyo is the most populated among the 47 prefectures of Japan. The total number of households currently in Japan is 48.22 million of which 58.9% are nuclear households and 27.6% are households with 1 person. This shows the declining stage at which Japan's population is in presently.