Ministry officials attributed the decline to the number of deaths exceeding births and a rise in the number of foreign residents who left Japan compared with those entering the nation because of the impact of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami and the economic slump.
People aged 65 or older accounted for a record 24.1 percent of the total population.
The number of people in this age bracket rose by 1.04 million to 30.79 million partly because many of those born in the baby-boom years of 1947 to 1949 have turned 65 years in a telling sign that measures such as increased social welfare spending must be addressed swiftly.
Meanwhile, the number of people 14 and younger fell to a record low of 13 percent.
65歳以上の人口は総人口の24.1%で、過去最高を記録しました。
1947年から1949年に生まれたベビーブーマー世代が65歳にさしかかったために、65歳以上の人口は104万人増えて307万9千人となり、社会保障費用の速やかな増加が必要であることを示唆しています。
相反して14歳以下の人口は総人口の13%と最低記録を更新しました。