Population Crisis: Birthrate in Japan hits record low
Tokyo, June 2: Japan's birth rate fell for the seventh consecutive year in 2022 to a historic low, the health ministry said on Friday, highlighting the country's sense of urgency as its population shrinks and ages rapidly.
The fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman has during her lifetime, was 1.2565. This is compared to the previous low of 1.2601 recorded in 2005 and is far lower than the rate of 2.07 considered necessary to maintain a stable population.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has made halting the country's declining birth rate a top priority, and his government plans to spend 3.5 trillion yen ($25 billion) every year on child care and other measures to encourage parents, despite high levels of debt.
"The youth population will start decreasing drastically in the 2030s. The period of time until then is our last chance to reverse the trend of dwindling births," he said.
The pandemic has compounded Japan's demographic problems, with fewer marriages in recent years contributing to fewer births and Covid-19 contributing to more deaths.
According to the figures, the number of newborns in Japan fell 5% last year to 770,747, a new low, while the number of deaths increased 9% to a record 1.57 million. The coronavirus outbreak killed about 47,000 people in Japan last year.
- PTC NEWS
