That is an increase of 890,000 from the same period last year. Men accounted for about 14.62 million of the total and women, 19.21 million.
People in the elderly age bracket now account for a record 26.7 per cent of Japan`s population - an increase of 0.8 percentage points from last year.
The number of Japanese aged 80 and above has risen by 380,000 from last year to 10.02 million, topping 10 million for the first time.
The ministry added the number of working elderly increased for 11 years in a row to reach a new record figure of 6.81 million in 2014.
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