Kyodo

Elderly people now make up a record 23.3 percent of the population, the internal affairs ministry said in an estimate Friday.

A record-high 29.8 million people were 65 or over as of Thursday, up 240,000, or 0.2 percentage point, from the previous year, the data said.

The estimate was released by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry ahead of Respect for the Aged day on Monday, which will be observed as a national holiday.