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Almost 10% of Japanese aged 75 or older: white paper+
(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) TOKYO, May 20_(Kyodo) _ Japan has become "a full-fledged" aging society with almost 10 percent of its total population now 75 or older, a government white paper showed Tuesday.
The 2008 White Paper on Aging Society said the number of people aged 75 or older increased by 540,000 from a year earlier to 12.7 million as of Oct. 1, 2007, representing 9.9 percent of Japan's total population, up 0.4 percentage point.
The population of the aged -- defined as being 65 or older -- was given as an all-time high of 27.46 million, up 860,000 from a year before, the white paper said. Such people accounted for 21.5 percent of the nation's total population, up 0.7 point.
The percentage share of the aged will keep growing, reaching 40.5 percent in 2055, while total population will decline to 89.93 million, the white paper estimated based on statistics compiled by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.
The white paper defended the government's newly introduced system of supporting surging medical costs for those aged 75 or older.
On an average, insurance premiums are lower compared with those under the previous system, the paper said, referring to the new medical insurance system implemented in April.
On pension-record blunders by the Social Insurance Agency that rocked Japanese society in the past year, the white paper emphasized the government's remedial efforts, including having corrected erroneously input names of future pension recipients by the end of March.
Copyright ? 2008 Kyodo News International, Inc.
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