TOKYO: The percentage of single-person households is expected to exceed 40% in 27 prefectures in 2050, according to a projection released by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.
The institute released its projections, which are based on the 2020 national census, on Tuesday (Nov 12).
Of all households, the percentage of single-person households of people aged 65 or older is expected to exceed 20% in 32 prefectures in 2050, according to the institute.
The trend is attributed to an increase in unmarried people, the declining birth rate and the aging population.
There is an urgent need to create a system in which the elderly can receive medical and nursing care.
As of 2020, there were 21.15 million single-person households nationwide, or 38% of all households.
The percentage of single-person households exceeded 40% in only five prefectures: Tokyo at 50.2%, Osaka at 41.8%, Kyoto at 41.2%, Fukuoka at 40.7% and Hokkaido at 40.5%.
The number of single-person households is expected to increase to 23.3 million, or 44.3% of all households nationwide, in 2050, and the proportion is expected to increase in rural areas.
In 2020, 7.37 million people aged 65 or older lived alone, making up 13.2% of all households.
However, the number is expected to increase to 10.83 million, making up 20.6% of all households, in 2050.
The prefectures that are expected to have the highest percentage of people aged 65 or older living alone in 2050 is Kochi with 27%, followed by Tokushima with 25.3% and Ehime with 24.9%.
The rise in the number of elderly people living alone is largely due to an increase in unmarried people.
According to the institute, the percentage of those who had never been married by the age of 50 was 28.25% for men and 17.81% for women as of 2020.
“The number of elderly people with no relatives is increasing,” said an official of the institute.
“It’s becoming more important to take action in the community, such as in the medical and nursing fields.”
The total number of households, which was 55.7 million in 2020, is expected to decrease by 5.6% to 52.6 million in 2050, reflecting the declining population.
The average number of members in a household has also decreased in all prefectures.
As of 2020, Tokyo was the only prefecture with an average household size of less than two people. However, such households are expected to be the average in 34 prefectures in 2050.
The institute creates projections for each prefecture every five years. - The Japan News/ANN
