Japan’s birth rate falls for ninth consecutive year to hit record low
The 720,998 babies born in Japan in 2024 was a drop of 5% on the previous year.
The number of babies born in Japan last year fell for a ninth straight year to a record low, according to health ministry data.
The faster-than-predicted decline suggests government measures have not effectively addressed the country’s fast-ageing and declining population.
The 720,998 babies born in Japan in 2024 was a drop of 5% on the previous year, according to the Health and Welfare Ministry. It was the lowest number of births since Japan started recording the statistics in 1899.
“We believe the declining births has not been effectively controlled,” chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters, adding that the government will steadily pursue expanded childcare programmes and subsidies for child-rearing households.
The result, which includes babies of foreign nationality born in Japan, is 15 years ahead of the forecast for reaching that level.
The birth rate for just Japanese nationals is expected to fall below 700,000 for the first time when it is published later this year.
The survey also noted that the number of marriages last year was 499,999, an increase of 2.2% on 2023 when a 90-year low was recorded.
Experts say an improving outlook for the economy, jobs and gender equality is key to encourage young people to marry and have children.
Surveys show that many younger Japanese people are reluctant to marry or have families, discouraged by bleak job prospects, the high cost of living that rises at a faster pace than salaries and corporate cultures that are not compatible with having both parents work.
Japan’s population is projected to fall by about 30% to 87 million by 2070, when four out of every 10 people will be 65 or older.
The result comes just as South Korea reported that the number of babies born in that country rebounded for the first time in nine years in 2024, a result partly attributed to an increase in marriages among couples who delayed weddings during the Covid-19 pandemic.
South Korea’s statistics agency said that 238,300 babies were born last year, an increase of 8,300 from a year earlier.
It said the country’s fertility rate — the average number of babies born to each woman in their reproductive years — was 0.75 in 2024, up from 0.72 in 2023.
It is the first time that the yearly number of births has increased since 2015.
