TOKYO - In a record 37.1 percent of Japanese households providing care at home, both the care recipient and primary caregiver were aged 75 or older in 2025, government data showed Wednesday, as the country's population continues to age.
The figure rose 1.4 percentage points from the previous survey in 2022 and was nearly double the 18.7 percent reported in 2001, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's survey on people's lives.
The number of people aged 65 or older living alone also reached a record high of more than 9.33 million.
Japan is facing growing pressure on its care system as members of the postwar baby boom generation, born between 1947 and 1949, enter their late 70s.
Meanwhile, in 61.9 percent of households providing care at home, both the care recipient and primary caregiver were aged 65 or older, down 1.6 percentage points from 2022.
Concerns are growing that the burden on elderly caregivers will increase as care recipients' conditions worsen or the caregivers themselves develop dementia or other health problems.
The country also faces the challenge of growing social isolation among older people living alone.
The survey has been conducted annually since 1986 and is one of Japan's core government statistics used in policymaking. Every three years, the ministry conducts a more extensive survey with additional questions on health and nursing care and a larger sample.
The survey was canceled for the first time in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
