Tokyo: Japan's birthrate has hit a record low for the ninth consecutive year, with only 720,988 babies born in 2024, a 5% drop from the previous year, according to government data released Thursday.
This decline underscores Japan’s deepening demographic crisis, as a shrinking workforce struggles to support the nation’s growing elderly population. Deaths outpaced births by more than double, with 1.62 million deaths recorded in 2024, marking a 1.8% increase from the previous year.
Japan’s total population now stands at 123.54 million, a 0.46% decrease from 2023, further intensifying concerns about labor shortages and economic stagnation.
In contrast, South Korea reported a rare uptick in its birthrate in 2024, the first increase in over a decade.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has made tackling the population crisis a top priority, but factors like the high cost of education, economic stagnation, and changing lifestyles continue to discourage young people from starting families.
