Facts about Shinzo Abe
Shinzo Abe was born in September 1954 in Japan. He comes from a family of several generations of prominent politicians.
Abe made a quick career in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and was elected Prime Minister in 2006, the youngest in the post during the post-war period. After about a year, the LDP lost the upper house election and Abe resigned, officially for health reasons.
Abe returned as Prime Minister after the December 2012 election. He presented an expansive economic policy to stimulate the stagnant economy, often referred to as “Abenomics”.
Initially, the desired effect was achieved, but in 2014, Japan entered negative economic growth. Abe announced new elections to get a clear mandate for his policy. In the election, in December 2014, Abe gained renewed confidence from voters, partly due to a divided opposition and record low turnout. He also consolidated his position in the new election announced by Abe in 2017.
Shinzo Abe announced in August 2020 that he would resign for health reasons. In September of that year, he was succeeded as party leader and prime minister by Yoshihide Suga.
Abe had then sat longer than anyone else as Prime Minister of Japan.
Fumio Kishida is the country’s current prime minister.