Population Case Study: Japan (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Geography) : Revision Note

Japan's population

• Japan's population is decreasing

  • In 2010, Japan's population reached 128.1 million people

  • By 2020, the population had decreased to 125.8 million people

• The fertility rate is 1.36 births per woman, which is well below the 2.1 fertility replacement rate

• The birth rate is 6.8 per 1000

• The death rate is 11.1 per 1000 

  • The death rate has increased from 6 per 1000 in 1979

  • This is not because healthcare or diets are worse but because there are far more elderly people who are more likely to become ill and die

• Japan has the highest life expectancy in the world at 84.36 years

• Japan has a population change rate of -0.3%

• This is a combination of a low birth rate and an ageing population 

Reasons for population decline

Low birth rate

• The fertility rate in Japan is 1.36 births per woman, well below the fertility replacement rate of 2.1

• The birth rate is 7.1 per 1000 people

• The reasons for the low birth rate include:

  • increasing numbers of women focusing on careers and delaying having children

  • inability to afford buying/renting own home (70% of unmarried people live with their parents)

  • declining marriage rate and increase in average age people get married (women 29.5 years, men 31 years)

  • economic insecurity: jobs are not as secure

  • the expense of children is high due to childcare costs

Ageing population

• The death rate has increased in Japan from a low of 6 per 1000 in 1982 to 11 per 1000 in 2020

• In that time, life expectancy has increased from an average of 77 years to 84.36 years

• This means the increased death rate is not due to poorer healthcare, diet or standard of living but because the population is ageing 

• One-third of the population is over 60 years old and over 12% are over 75 

  • Older people are more likely to become unwell and die

  • The older the population, the higher the proportion of people who will die

Impacts of population decline

• Shortage of workers

  • With increasing numbers of the population being retired, there are not enough workers to replace them

  • Fewer innovations

  • Closure of some services

• Higher taxes

  • An ageing population puts more pressure on health service and pension payments

  • There is predicted to be a shortage of 380,000 workers for elderly care by 2025

  • Taxes have to be increased to pay for healthcare and pensions

• School closures

  • Fewer children mean that schools and childcare facilities may close with the loss of jobs

  • An average of 450 schools close each year due to falling numbers

• Economic stagnation

  • The economy does not grow due to a lack of workers and the closure of businesses and industry

  • The standard of living does not improve or falls

Impacts of population policies

• Immigration laws were revised in 2018 to attract foreign workers and help with the worker shortage

• The aim is to attract 340,000 new workers

• The Angel Plan was a five-year plan in 1994 to increase the birth rate, followed by the New Angel Plan in 1999 and the Plus One Policy in 2009. These all aimed to encourage people to have children by

  • improving the work environment to fit with family responsibilities

  • better childcare services

  • improved maternity and child health services

  • better housing for families

  • improved education facilities 

• Plus One Proposal is the most recent policy and aims to increase 'parent-friendly' working and the construction of 50,000 new day care facilities