Nearly 40,000 people were found dead alone in their homes in Japan during the first half of 2024, according to a report by the National Police Agency. Of these, almost 4,000 individuals were discovered more than a month after their deaths, while 130 bodies remained unnoticed for a year before being found.
Japan, which currently has the oldest population in the world according to the United Nations, is increasingly facing the issue of elderly citizens living and dying alone. The National Police Agency hopes that its report will draw attention to this growing problem.
The data from the first half of 2024 reveals that 37,227 people living alone were found deceased in their homes. The report highlights that over 70% of these individuals were aged 65 and above, underscoring the vulnerability of Japan’s aging population.
While around 40% of those who died alone at home were discovered within a day, the report also shows that nearly 3,939 bodies were not found until more than a month after death. Tragically, 130 individuals had been deceased for at least a year before being discovered.
The largest group within the dataset, comprising 7,498 bodies, belonged to those aged 85 and older. This was followed by 5,920 individuals aged 75-79, and 5,635 people aged 70-74.
The findings, reported by Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, will be submitted to a government committee investigating the rising number of unattended deaths. This comes at a time when Japan is grappling with the social and economic impacts of its aging population.
Earlier in 2024, the Japanese National Institute of Population and Social Security Research projected that by 2050, the number of elderly citizens living alone will reach 10.8 million. The total number of single-person households is expected to rise to 23.3 million by that year.
In response to this growing crisis, the Japanese government introduced a bill in April aimed at addressing the nation’s long-standing issues of loneliness and social isolation, which are exacerbated by its aging population.
Japan has been striving for years to manage the challenges posed by its aging and declining population, but the situation is becoming increasingly difficult to control. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned last year that the country is nearing a point where it may struggle to function as a society due to its declining birth rate.
Japan is not alone in facing these demographic challenges. Neighboring countries like China and South Korea are experiencing similar issues, with China’s population declining in 2022 for the first time since 1961 and South Korea consistently reporting the world’s lowest fertility rate.