Births in Japan reached another historical minimum in 2024, falling for a ninth consecutive year as young people delay marriage, while the elderly population increases, as shared by the Japanese government this Thursday.
The figures highlight the dramatic demographic challenges facing the fourth largest economy in the world, where an increasingly less and less work force has to assume the costs of caring for an increasingly numerous elderly population.
In 2024, 720,988 children were born in Japan, including foreigners, 5% less than 758,631 of 2023, according to preliminary data from the Ministry of Health. This number of births is the minimum recorded by the country since 1899, while maximum births (2.1 million) was recorded in 1973. On the other hand, the number of deaths was more than double that of births, with an increase of 1.8% from 2023 to 1.62 million.
The total population of Japan reached 123.54 million inhabitants in February 2024, 0.46% less than a year ago, according to data from the Ministry of Interior published last week.
Japanese prime minister, Shigeru ishiba, has declared that addressing the demographic crisis is one of its main priorities. But the high cost of education, the stagnation of the economy and changes in lifestyle have dissuaded young people to form a family.
Likewise, this Wednesday South Korea made its birth data public, another of the society with the lowest number of lighting in the world. However, the data showed this time that the number of babies born per 1,000 inhabitants increased by 2024, for the first time in more than a decade.
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