Single-person households consisting of someone 65 or older will make up over 20% of households across Japan in 2050 — with the exception of Yamagata Prefecture — as a result of rapid depopulation, according to a projection released by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (IPSS) on Tuesday.
Five prefectures would see the percentage of such households — in which only one person is registered as a family member — exceed 30%, including Tokyo (34.8%), Osaka (32.1%) and Kochi (30.6%).
According to the IPSS, the trend will affect both metropolitan and rural areas. In cities, fewer people are getting married, while in rural areas, an aging population and the eventual death of spouses in two-person households would result in such single-member units.