A Japanese diaper maker will produce diapers completely for older adults amid a steep decline in demand for toddler diapers, an ill-boding reminder of Japan’s growing older inhabitants.
Oji Holdings, a Japanese paper product producer, introduced Monday that it could stop manufacturing of disposable diapers for kids in September after plummeting demand. The corporate’s subsidiary Oji Nepia manufactures 400 million toddler diapers yearly, down from its 700 million peak in 2001, BBC reported.
“The Group aims to transform its business portfolio by concentrating investments on businesses with high profitability and growth potential in order to increase corporate value,” Oji Holdings stated in a statement. “The current termination of the domestic disposable diaper business for children is based on this strategy.”
Within the Japanese market, grownup diaper gross sales have outpaced child diaper gross sales since 2011 due to shifts in demand. Births within the nation—758,631—had been down 5.1% in 2023 from the 12 months earlier than, Japan’s lowest number of births because the nineteenth century. The nation’s low birth rate is because of decrease fertility charges, in addition to a excessive price of residing and a company tradition younger potential mother and father deem incompatible with elevating kids.
The demographic adjustments pushed Unicharm Corp., Japan’s largest diaper producer, to make the identical determination to shift to completely making grownup diapers in 2012, Bloomberg reported. It was half of a bigger pivot of Japanese corporations advertising to older consumers, who are inclined to spend extra money. In 2011, Japanese individuals of their 60s accounted for 40% of the nation’s consumption.
“The elderly are going to be the engine of consumption,” Shohei Murai, govt vp of grocery store operator Aeon Co. stated after Unicharm’s announcement.
A shrinking workforce
However Oji Holdings’ determination to faucet into a strong growing older shopper base is a small silver lining for Japan’s cloudy and grey economic system—and graying inhabitants.
Over 10% of Japan’s inhabitants is aged 80 or older as of September 2023, per the World Economic Forum, and it’s anticipated to shrink 1 / 4 by 2060, the International Monetary Fund predicts. In 2023, the nation’s inhabitants of 125.4 million fell by 800,000.
That’s dangerous information for Japan’s workforce, nearly half of which is over 70, the World Financial Discussion board reported in 2022. A dwindling inhabitants means rising labor shortages on the horizon, together with within the aged care sector, which is predicted to extend threefold to 690,000 by 2040, in accordance with Japan’s Ministry of Well being, Labour and Welfare. Although Japan’s job-to-applicant ratio rose to 1.28—128 job openings per 100 worker prospects—the speed dwindled from the pre-pandemic charge of 1.6.
“Japan is standing on the verge of whether we can continue to function as a society,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated in January 2023 policy address to lawmakers. “Focusing attention on policies regarding children and child-rearing is an issue that cannot wait and cannot be postponed.”
