According to data from the health ministry, the number of newborns born in Japan last year hit a record low for the ninth consecutive year, reports Breaking News.
The quicker-than-expected fall indicates that the nation’s rapidly ageing and shrinking population has not been adequately handled by government initiatives.
In 2024, Japan had 720,998 births, a 5% decrease from the year before, according to the Health and Welfare Ministry. It was the fewest births since data were first kept in Japan in 1899, reports Breaking News.
Yoshimasa Hayashi, the top cabinet secretary, told reporters, “We believe the declining births has not been effectively controlled.” The government will continue to work towards expanding childcare programs and providing incentives for homes with children.
The outcome is 15 years ahead of the prediction for achieving that level, and it includes foreign-born children born in Japan, reports Breaking News.
When it is released later this year, the birth rate for just Japanese citizens is predicted to drop below 700,000 for the first time.
According to the report, there were 499,999 weddings last year, which was 2.2% more than the 90-year low in 2023.
According to experts, encouraging young people to get married and start a family requires a stronger outlook for the economy, employment, and gender equality, reports Breaking News.
According to surveys, a large number of younger Japanese individuals are hesitant to get married or start a family because they are deterred by poor employment prospects, the high cost of living, which is increasing more quickly than incomes, and corporate cultures that do not support having both parents work.
By 2070, when four out of ten individuals would be 65 or older, Japan’s population is expected to have decreased by almost 30% to 87 million.
The outcome coincides with South Korea’s announcement that, in 2024, the country’s birth rate increased for the first time in nine years, in part because to a rise in nuptials among couples who postponed their weddings during the Covid-19 epidemic, reports Breaking News.
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