Population aging and immigration: Evidence from Japan

Abstract

In Japan, the population of immigrants has been increasing sharply, while the population is aging rapidly. Therefore, Japan is chosen for a case study to examine the relationship between demographic change and immigration. Immigration is important to the growth of the labor force due to population aging and the decline in working age population. Existing studies generally support the hypothesis that a positive association exists between population aging and immigration, which is as aging population increases, the number of immigrants increases in industrialized countries. However, there remain uncertainties as to what age range of the population is considered to increase in the proportion of older people related to the positive association, and how population composition by age group is related to the immigration in Japan. This study examines how the population composition by age group is related to immigration in Japan by applying econometric methods for the period 1975 – 2019. The results indicate that a decrease in the ratio of the population aged 60 – 64 to the total population and an increase in the population aged 65 and over are associated with increases in the ratio of foreign resident population to the total population of Japanese nationals.