日本的壞消息：人口連續第九年下降_風聞

As the number of people living in Japan continues to fall, it must urgently address the issue of how to support an increasing elderly population with a shrinking workforce. Japan’s population as of October 1, 2019, was 126,167,000, according to an estimate by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; a decrease of 276,000, or 0.22%, compared to the previous year. This is the ninth consecutive annual decline and the largest margin of decrease on record. Among those living in Japan, 123,731,000 were Japanese citizens, a year-on-year decrease of 487,000, or 0.39%. Meanwhile, the number of foreign residents in Japan rose for the seventh consecutive year, with 208,000 more new foreigners coming into the country than those leaving. In total, foreign residents made up 1.93% of the overall population.

隨着生活在日本的人口數量的持續下降，日本政府必須迫切解決如何在勞動力萎縮的情況下養活不斷增加的老年人口的問題。根據日本內務省的估計，截至2019年10月1日，日本人口為1億2616.7萬，比上年減少27.6萬人，降幅為0.22%。這是日本人口連續第九個年度下降，也是有記錄以來最大的降幅。其中，日本公民1億2373.1萬人，比上年減少48萬7000人，降幅為0.39%。與此同時，日本的外國居民數量連續第七年上升，進入日本的外國人比離開日本的外國人多出20.8萬。總體上，外國居民佔總人口的1.93%。

日本人口變化1989-2019

In 2019, there were 75.1 million people between the ages of 15 and 64 in what is defined as the working-age population, a year-on-year decrease of 379,000 people. This age bracket accounted for 59.5% of the population, the lowest percentage on record since 1950, when statistics were first kept. The number of those 65 and older rose year on year by 307,000, for a total of 35.9 million, accounting for a record high 28.4% of the total population. Those 75 or older increased year on year by 515,000, for a total of 18.5 million, thus accounting for more than half of the entire population 65 or older. The statistics reveal a social structure in Japan that is becoming increasingly reliant on foreign workers as the country’s own workforce contracts due to a low birth rate and aging population.

2019年，日本15歲至64歲的勞動年齡人口為7510萬人，同比減少37.9萬人，這一年齡段的人口占總人口的59.5%，是自1950年首次有統計以來的最低比例。65歲及以上人口比上年增加30.7萬人，達到3590萬人，佔總人口的28.4%，創歷史新高。75歲及以上人口同比增長51.5萬人，共1850萬人，佔65歲及以上人口的一半以上。統計數據顯示，由於低出生率和人口老齡化，本國的勞動力也在減少，日本的社會結構越來越依賴外國工人。

日本關鍵人口變化2000-2019（15歲以下，15歲-64歲，65歲以上）