The National Police Agency of Japan reported more than 37,000 people in Japan died in their homes in the first six months of 2024, calculating data from 103,000 autopsies and other death investigations conducted between January and June.
The agency released the shocking figures to highlight the problem of deaths among the country’s aging population left without medical care. The agency reported 37,000 people died in their homes; of that number, nearly 4,000 were discovered more than a month after their deaths and 130 bodies remained undiscovered for a year before they were found.
Approximately 30 per cent, or 37,227 cases, involved people who lived alone and found dead at home. More than 75 per cent of that number were people aged 65 and older, and the largest subgroup – nearly 7,500 people – were aged 85 and older. About 40 per cent came within a day of death, but nearly 4,000 people were not found for more than a month, including 130 who were found more than a year after death.
The agency expects its report to shed light on the country’s growing problem of a huge aging population living and dying alone. This is because Japan currently has the oldest population in the world, according to the United Nations. The results of the report are due to be presented to the Government Working Group, which is studying ways to tackle the problem of death without medical care, according to NHK.
Earlier this year, the Japanese National Institute of Population and Social Security Research reported the number of elderly citizens, namely those aged 65 and older, living alone will reach 10.8 million by 2050, which represents terrible statistics for Japan, BBC said.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his country was on the verge of being unable to function as a society due to a declining birth rate, adding that “focusing attention on policies regarding children and child-rearing is an issue that cannot wait and cannot be postponed.”
Some neighbouring countries are facing similar demographic challenges. One of these countries is South Korea, which has repeatedly reported the lowest birth rate in the world; South Korea’s problem is also related to the fact that young people do not want to start families despite many measures taken by the government. China has also seen its population decline in 2022 for the first time since 1961.
