According to the ministry, the number of households living on welfare (生活保護所帯)topped the one million mark for the first time in 2004 with households of the elderly accounting for nearly 50 percent.
Official statistics disclosed that Japanese prople aged 65 or older accounted for 20 percent of the total population as of 2005, the highest percentage among major industrialized nations.
According to the government statistics on population, it is estimated that in 2010, elderly people aged 65 or older would account for 23 percent or more of total population of Japan.
Japan, the nation with the longest life expectancy in the world, now has more than 25 thousand centenarians, of whome women account for 85 percent, reflecting women's longer life expectancy.