A new forecast says Japan's population will drop by about 40 million from 2005 to about 89 million by 2055 and about 40 percent of the population will be at least 65 years old. The forecast by the health ministry's National Institute of Population and Social Security Statistics clearly shows that a population decrease will accompany the rapid graying of the population.

The decreasing fertility rate and increasing life span cause concern about the viability of the nation's social security system, especially pension and nursing care, since a fewer number of younger people will have to economically support an increasing number of aged people. Both the government and the public need to consider how to create a social environment in which younger people see no hindrance to child-bearing and -rearing.

The forecast predicts that the average number of children born to a Japanese woman will hit a low of 1.21 in 2013 before rising slightly to 1.26 in and after 2044 -- the same as in 2005 but much lower than the 2.1 minimum necessary to stabilize the population. One of every four women born in 1990 is expected to stay single, and those who do marry will have an average of only 1.7 children.