The given table demonstrates the percentage of never-married adults aged 50, from 1970 to 2010, in Japan, whereas the line graph provides the number of marriages and divorces in Japan between 1970 and 2016.
Overall, the proportions of never-married citizens significantly increased, and the marriage rate dropped dramatically. At the same time, the divorce rate grew slowly and remained stable.
The percentage of single men and women aged 50 was 2% in 1970, but this figure doubled to 4% by 1980. The percentage continued to rise, reaching 7% in 1990. A more significant increase occurred between 1990 and 2000, and the proportion climbed to 12%. By 2010, the trend persisted with 15% and indicating that the phenomenon became increasingly common over time.
In 1970, approximately 1 million citizens were married, however this figure fell to around 800,000 by 1980. The number steadily declined in 1990, and with a slight peak in 2000, before dropping more sharply to about 600,000 in 2016. In contrast, divorces increased gradually from around 100 thousand in 1970 to 170 thousand in 1990. The divorce rate then rose significantly, peaking at about 300,000 in 2000, before decreasing minimally and levelling off at approximately 210,000 from 2010 onward.