Japan Population Expected to Drop One-Third by 2060

As the world's population continues to grow exponentially this century, Japan's population will buck the trend and decrease by 30 percent over the next 50 years, Kyodo News reported.

A report from the Japanese government's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, released Monday, estimates that the country's population will drop to 86.74 million by 2060, down from more than 127 million in 2010.

The institute noted that "if conditions remained unchanged," the country's population would tumble again to 42.9 million by 2110 -- a third of its current level.

Citing the country's low fertility rates, the institute also found that around 40 percent of Japan's population in 2060 will be aged 65 or older -- up from 23 percent in 2010.

Japan's life expectancy -- one of the highest in the world -- is expected to rise from 86.39 years in 2010 to 90.93 years in 2060 for women and from 79.64 years to 84.19 years for men, AFP reported.

The world's population passed seven billion last year, up from six billion in 1999. The French National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED) predicts a continuing rise in the world's overall population until the total stabilizes somewhere between nine and 10 billion worldwide by the end of the century.

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