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News Desk

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Publication Date : 21-01-2013

One-third of households in Japan will be single-person households in 2015, according to an estimate by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

According to the estimate released Friday, single-person households will account for 33 per cent of all households in 2015, up from 32 per cent in 2010.

The ratio will increase to 37 per cent in 2035, the institute said.

Factors behind the rise include a growing tendency for Japanese people to marry later, remain single or divorce. The institute estimates the number of single-person households will increase to 17.64 million in 2015 and to 18.46 million in 2035.

The number of households in 2010 was 16.79 million.

Meanwhile, the percentage of households consisting of a married couple and their child or children will decrease to 23 per cent, or 11.53 million households, in 2035, according to the survey. Such households accounted for more than 40 per cent of the total in the 1980s.

Households headed by a person aged 65 or older will increase to 41 per cent, or 20.22 million households, in 2035 from 31 per cent, or 16.2 million households, in 2010.

Of elderly households, single-person households will increase to 7.62 million in 2035. This is 50 per cent more than the 4.98 million such households in 2010, the estimate said.

Demand for the care and monitoring of elderly people living alone is expected to increase.

The overall number of households was 51.84 million in 2010. It is expected to peak at 53.07 million in 2019 and decrease from then on. The institute, which submits an estimate every five years, made its most recent calculations based on the 2010 national census.