From January to March, a total of 21,716 people in Japan died alone at home, nearly 80% of whom were aged 65 or older, the National Police Agency said on Monday as it published an official tally of lonely deaths for the first time.
Based on the figure – including those who died by suicide – the number of elderly people dying alone at home is estimated at 68,000 per year, NPA official Kazuhito Shinka said at a House of Commons committee meeting the same day. Shinka was responding to questions from Akira Nagatsuma, a former welfare minister of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
As Japan grapples with its rapid aging population, supporting people who live alone and grow old is increasingly on the policy agenda.
