Editing Akita Prefecture (section)

== Economy and population ==
[[File:Akita prefecture population pyramid in 2020.svg|thumb|274x274px|Akita prefecture population pyramid in 2020]]
[[File:Akita City New Residents.jpg|thumb|'''Note:''' Data in the chart above was taken over the course of five years (2003-2008). The graph shows how many people migrated to Akita City from other prefectures. Overall the net gain of new residents was 4,981 people, or 1.5%.<ref name=":0">Quinones, C. Kenneth. “Chapter 2: Akita City.” ''Akita-Beyond the Road's Narrow End'', Mineo Nakajima, 2011, pp. 26–27.</ref>]]
Like much of the [[Tōhoku Region]], Akita's economy remains dominated by traditional industries such as agriculture, fishing, and forestry. This has led many young people to migrate to Tokyo and other large cities. Akita Prefecture has seen some of the most severe population decline in Japan: it is one of four prefectures in Japan registering declines in population since 1955. Its population also has the lowest percentage of children (defined as under the age of 15), at 9.3% in 2022, down from 11.2% in 2010.<ref>{{cite news|title=Number of children in Japan falls to record low for 29th year in row |agency=[[Kyodo News]] |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100504x2.html |newspaper=[[The Japan Times]] |date=May 4, 2010 |access-date=May 26, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606040430/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100504x2.html |archive-date=June 6, 2011 |df=mdy }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Statistics Bureau Home Page/Population Estimates/Current Population Estimates as of October 1, 2022 |url=https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/jinsui/2022np/index.html |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=www.stat.go.jp}}</ref> 38.6% of residents are 65 or older, the highest percentage of any Japanese prefecture.<ref name=":1" /> As of October 1, 2022, it has an estimated population of 944,902 people.<ref name=":1" />

The high rate of depopulation in Akita Prefecture has led smaller communities to merge with each other, which has affected the smallest of these merged communities. As depopulation in these communities continues, educational and health facilities have closed in some areas, encouraging families to migrate to larger cities for better access to health and educational opportunities and perpetuating the decline in population. This decline, [[Aging of Japan|combined with an aging population]], has been concerning for rural communities.<ref name=":0" />