Japan tries to take heart as pace of population decline slows slightly

TOKYO - Japan's population will fall nearly a third by 2065, with almost 40 percent aged 65 or older and the working population laboring under a tougher pension burden, although the pace of population decline has slowed slightly, a government agency said on Monday.

Solutions to Japan's population slide have eluded policy makers for decades, putting finances under growing pressure as demand for pensions surges.

In 2015, the government established a new cabinet minister with the task of keeping the population from slipping below the demographic red line of 100 million by 2060.