Japan has just registered less than its annual births since it started to keep the records

The number of newborns in Japan decreases faster than expected, as the number of annual births decreased to a record level last year, according to government data issued on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Health said that 686,061 children were born in Japan in 2024, a decrease of 5.7 percent from the previous year, and the first time the number of newborns decreased to less than 700,000 since the start of records in 1899.

The decline comes about 15 years faster than the government’s prediction. Last year’s number is about a quarter of a peak of 2.7 million births in 1949 during the children’s boom after the war.

The data in a country with a large number of aging and reducing the population of concern about the sustainability of the economy and national security adds at a time when the government seeks to increase defense spending.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigro Eshiba described the situation as a “silent emergency” and promised to promote a more flexible work environment and other measures that would help husbands to balance work, paternity and motherhood, especially in rural areas, where family values ​​tend to be more conservative and difficult for women.

Global problem

Japan is far from lonely.

Canada recorded its lowest fertility rate for the second year in a row in 2023, according to it Canada statistics The data released last autumn, at 1.26 children who were born for each woman. It joined the ranks of the “lowest” fertility countries, including South Korea, Spain, Italy and Japan.

Experts have linked a set of factors With reproductive decisions, including height The cost of livingand Environmental bombs and Changing social norms about family size. More people too Delay Even later of life, which can shorten its reproductive window.

In the United States, Girls and birth rates have decreased for years. They decreased most of the years after the recession 2008-2009, regardless of the 2014 height.

Trump administration And according to what the incentives were considered This can include a “child bonus” worth $ 5,000, and keep the scholarships for married applicants or have children, and Motherhood medals For women who have six children or more, according to the multiple media.

South Korea carried out various measures to encourage young people to marry and have children, including tax cuts and subsidies, but also Parents’ expanded vacationIncreasing the paternity leave and added more flexible work schedules to parents. Last year, the fertility rate increased for the first time in nine years, from 0.72 to 0.75.

The population is expected to fall

The latest Ministry of Health data showed that the fertility rate in Japan – the average number of children who are expected to have women in their life – also decreased to a new level of 1.15 in 2024, from 1.2 in the previous year.

The marriage was a little rising, to 485,063 husbands, but the declining trend since the 1970s is still unchanged.

Experts say that government measures have not dealt with an increasing number of young people who visit marriage, with a great focus on already married couples and planning for a family, or those who already have children.

Experts say that the younger generation increases in marriage or having children due to the dark work prospects, the cost of high living and the culture of biased companies between the sexes that add an additional burden to working women and working mothers.

An increasing number of women also cite pressure to change their titles to their husband as part of their marriage. Under the civil law, husbands must choose either the title of marriage legally, a rule that traditionally caused the abandonment of women the first names.

It is expected that the population of Japan, who number about 124 million people, will decrease to 87 million by 2070, when 40 percent of the population exceeds 65 years.