More than 37,000 people in Japan died alone in their homes in the first half of 2024

A report from Japan’s police has revealed that approximately 40,000 individuals in the country died alone in their homes between January and July of this year, according to media sources. The United Nations has stated that Japan currently has the oldest population in the world.

Nearly 4,000 people were found dead in their homes, having passed away more than a month prior. The National Police Agency reported that 130 of these individuals had gone unnoticed for an entire year before being discovered.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK noted that the police agency will share its findings with a government group investigating unattended deaths.

Data from the National Police Agency covering the first half of 2024 showed that 37,227 individuals living alone were found deceased in their homes, with over 70% of them aged 65 or older.

Approximately 40% of those who died alone were found within a day, while 3,939 bodies were only discovered after more than a month had passed.

The largest segment in the data was those aged 85 and older, accounting for 7,498 of the bodies found. Following that, 5,920 bodies were from people aged 75 to 79, and 5,635 from those aged 70 to 74.

Earlier this year, the Japanese National Institute of Population and Social Security Research projected that by 2050, 10.8 million elderly individuals (aged 65 and above) will be living alone. The total number of single-person households is expected to rise to 23.3 million by that time.