The number of babies born in Japan has dropped to the lowest the country has ever seen since records began 125 years ago, falling ninth straight year despite the government’s efforts to reverse the decline
Japan recorded 720,988 births in 2024, five per cent down from the previous year, the health ministry said on Thursday.
The year-on-year decline underscores Japan’s long-standing issues of a rapidly ageing and shrinking population, which has serious fallout for the country’s economy and national security.
The country saw a record of 1.6 million deaths last year, causing the population to shrink by almost 900,000 people, including those who immigrated out of Japan.
It means that two people d!ed for every new baby born.
Reacting to the development, prime minister Shigeru Ishiba accepted that the trend of declining births has not been reversed yet.
“We need to be aware the trend of falling births has not been arrested. But the number of marriages posted an increase. Given close ties between the number of marriages and the number of births, we should focus on this aspect as well,” he said.
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