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Average age of A-bomb survivors now exceeds 80

by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer

It was learned on July 1 that, according to a document compiled by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on A-bomb survivors nationwide, the average age of the survivors has now reached 80.13 as of the end of March 2015. This marks the first time that the average age of A-bomb survivors has exceeded 80. The age has risen by 0.69 years, from 79.44, since last year. In this 70th year since the atomic bombings, the survivors inexorably grow older.

The average age was calculated, at the end of fiscal 2014, from data on holders of the Atomic Bomb Survivor’s Certificate, managed by 47 prefectures and the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, including A-bomb survivors living overseas. The number of holders of the certificate is now 183,519, a decrease of 9,200 from the previous year. This number is less than half the figure in fiscal 1980, when a record 372,264 people held the certificate.

The city of Hiroshima is home to the largest number of A-bomb survivors among local municipalities, with 58,933, down 2,733 since last year. The average age of these survivors is 79.58, up 0.65 years. Beyond the city of Hiroshima, another 24,434 survivors are registered with the Hiroshima prefectural government, down by 1,520. Their average age has reached 82.1, a rise of 0.6 years.

(Originally published on July 2, 2015)

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