Japan has the highest proportion of 'greys', the popular market segmentation nomenclature for the elderly population, worldwide. Due to both the high quality of medical care and a healthy diet with a higher proportion of white meat like fish, average life expectancy for the Japanese is almost 85 years for men, and just over 78 for women.

Japan's greys now number 18.5%, according to the Japanese government Management and Coordination Agency, in a report released yesterday. Following Japan for the highest proportion of greys are other developed nations in Euope - Italy (18.2%) -(pasta and pizza MUST be good for you then...), Germany 16.2%, and France (15.9%).

As is common worldwide, females out-live males with 13.67 million, or 21% of the total population being female greys and 9.95 million or 16% being male greys.

The Japanese grey segment is also growing at the fastest pace of any other country too, and the report predicts that the current proportion will grow to 26% of the total population in 2015 and 35.7% in 2050.

While much interest in international marketing is on the increasingly "blonding" younger market segments, Japanese greys command a relatively higher proportion of disposable income than the 18 to 35 age groups as well, compared to other nationalities.

The value of the Japanese grey segment to international, Asian and Asia-Pacific inbound tourism has been known for quite a while, and the ageing populations demands for that and other services will only increase in future, making the Japanese grey segment highly targetable for products and services not only in Japan but internationally.