Robots could be performing the work of 3.5 million people in Japan by 2025, to help cover predicted labour shortages, an industry body has forecast.

Japan faces a 16 per cent decline in the size of its workforce by 2030. Think-tank, the Machine Industry Memorial Foundation, says robots could help fill the gap.

The Machine Industry Memorial Foundation predicts that Japan could save 2.1 trillion yen ($21 billion) of elderly insurance payments in 2025 by using robots that monitor the health of older people, so they don’t have to rely on human nursing care.

Takao Kobayashi, who worked on the report, explained: “Seniors are pushing back their retirement until they are 65 years old, day care centres so that more women can work during the day, and there is a move to increase the quota of foreign labourers. But none of these can beat the shrinking workforce.”

However, Kobayashi acknowledges that changes are still needed if the robots are to make a big impact on the workforce.

He said: “There’s the expensive price tag, the functions of the robot still need to improve, and then there are the mindsets of people.

“People need to have the will to use the robots.”