{"id":13704,"date":"2014-11-25T11:00:20","date_gmt":"2014-11-25T16:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/6-facts-about-japans-downbeat-economy\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:20:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:20:21","slug":"6-facts-about-japans-downbeat-economy","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/11\/25\/6-facts-about-japans-downbeat-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"6 facts about Japan\u2019s downbeat economy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hispanics<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Japan's<\/a>
The growing number of older people in Japan may\u00a0put more and more pressure on the working-age population. (AP Photo\/Shizuo Kambayashi)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n\n

Japan is a long ways away from the skyrocketing growth the country enjoyed during its post-World War II \u201ceconomic miracle.\u201d Last week\u2019s lower than expected GDP figures<\/a> showed Japan slipping into its sixth recession since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.<\/p>\n\n

The world\u2019s third largest economy also faces longer-term challenges, including pessimistic forecasts from the Japanese public, the hollowing out of Japan\u2019s working-age population and the nation’s\u00a0exorbitant public debt.<\/p>\n\n

Here are six facts about Japan\u2019s economic gloom:<\/p>\n\n

Japan\u2019s optimism about its economic future nosedived earlier this spring<\/strong>, according to year-over-year data<\/a>. Just 15% of people in Japan expected the country\u2019s economic situation to improve in the “next 12 months,” down from 40% who were similarly hopeful in spring 2013, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office. That\u2019s the smallest share<\/a> expecting improvement in any of the 44 countries we surveyed.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

\"Japan's<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Two-thirds (67%) of the Japanese see the public debt as a very big problem, <\/strong>according to our survey<\/a> conducted before April\u2019s tax increase. The primary reason for this hike, from 5% to 8%, was to rein in the national debt, which had ballooned to over 240% of Japan\u2019s GDP<\/a>. More Japanese see public debt as a \u201cvery big problem\u201d than they do the lack of employment opportunities (45%), inflation (31%) or economic inequality (28%).<\/p>\n\n

Japan\u2019s working-age population (ages 15 to 64) is expected to plummet to 55.2 million in 2050 from 81.2 million in 2010<\/strong>, a 32% decline, according to UN data<\/a>. In 1970, 69% of Japan\u2019s population (71.4 million) was of working age, compared with 64% in 2010 and just 51% projected in 2050.<\/p>\n\n

\"Japan's<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\"Japan's<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Meanwhile, the country\u2019s population is getting old, fast. Japan\u2019s elderly population is expected to grow to 39.6 million in 2050 from 29.2 million in 2010<\/strong>, a 35% increase. The country\u2019s median age is expected to rise to 53 from 45.<\/p>\n\n

These trends are going to put a lot of pressure on Japan\u2019s working-age population down the line. By 2050, there will be 72 elderly people (ages 65 and older) for every 100 people of working age, doubling the 2010 ratio<\/a> of 36 per 100. Indeed, Japan\u2019s old-age dependency ratio is among the highest in the world. Looking at other top economies, Japan\u2019s not alone. Germany\u2019s ratio is projected to be 60 per 100 in 2050, France\u2019s is 44, China\u2019s is 39, and the U.S.\u2019s is 36.<\/p>\n\n

While unfavorable demographics<\/a> don\u2019t necessarily portend economic doom, more <\/strong>than eight-in-ten (87%) in Japan view the growing number of older people in their country as\u00a0a major problem, <\/strong>according to our spring 2013 survey. By comparison<\/a>, 67% in China see this as a major problem, as well as 55% in Germany, 45% in France and 26% in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n

Japan\u2019s rapid aging may also be become a social and economic burden for today\u2019s children (or tomorrow\u2019s workers). Just 14% of people in Japan say that children today will be better off financially than their parents<\/strong>. That\u2019s among the most pessimistic views<\/a> in all 44 countries we surveyed.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The world\u2019s third largest economy faces long-term challenges, including pessimistic forecasts from the Japanese public, the hollowing out of Japan\u2019s working-age population and the nation’s exorbitant public debt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":205,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[232,440],"bylines":[725],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[507,514],"research-teams":[525],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-13704","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-economic-conditions","category-recessions-recoveries","bylines-george-gao","formats-short-read","regions-countries-asia-pacific","regions-countries-international","research-teams-global"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":494,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/11\/25\/6-facts-about-japans-downbeat-economy\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":25486,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/11\/JapanElderly-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/11\/JapanElderly-jpg.webp?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":25486,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/11\/JapanElderly-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/11\/JapanElderly-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":25486,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/11\/JapanElderly-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/11\/JapanElderly-jpg.webp?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":25486,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/11\/JapanElderly-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/11\/JapanElderly-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":25486,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/11\/JapanElderly-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/11\/JapanElderly-jpg.webp?w=640&h=339&crop=1","width":640,"height":339,"chartArt":false},"social":{"id":25486,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/11\/JapanElderly-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/11\/JapanElderly-jpg.webp?w=640&h=339&crop=1","width":640,"height":339,"chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"6 facts about Japan\u2019s downbeat economy","description":"The world\u2019s third largest economy faces long-term challenges, including pessimistic forecasts from the Japanese public, the hollowing out of Japan\u2019s working-age population and the nation's exorbitant public debt.","og_title":"6 facts about Japan\u2019s downbeat economy","og_description":"The world\u2019s third largest economy faces long-term challenges, including pessimistic forecasts from the Japanese public, the hollowing out of Japan\u2019s working-age population and the nation's exorbitant public debt.","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":[],"custom_schema":[],"og_image":25486,"indexnow_submitted_at":null,"gsc_index_status":null},"prepublish_checks":{},"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"relatedPostsOrdered":[],"bylinesOrdered":[{"key":"b8b32ac58e02b93887e4099291d9443f","termId":725}],"acknowledgementsOrdered":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/13704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/short-read"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13704"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/13704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103418,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/13704\/revisions\/103418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13704"},{"taxonomy":"bylines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bylines?post=13704"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=13704"},{"taxonomy":"datasets","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/datasets?post=13704"},{"taxonomy":"_post_visibility","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post_visibility?post=13704"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=13704"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=13704"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=13704"},{"taxonomy":"regions-countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions-countries?post=13704"},{"taxonomy":"research-teams","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-teams?post=13704"},{"taxonomy":"workflow-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow-status?post=13704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}