Japan’s new births fall to record low in 2024

A seven-month-old baby and her mother look at early flowering Kanzakura cherry blossoms in full bloom at the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in Tokyo, Japan. —ISSEI KATO/REUTERS

TOKYO—The number of babies born in Japan fell to a record low of 720,988 in 2024 for a ninth consecutive year of decline, the health ministry said on Thursday, underscoring the rapid aging and dwindling of the population.

Births were down 5 percent on the year, despite measures in 2023 by former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government to boost child-bearing, while a record number of 1.62 million deaths meant that more than two people died for every new baby born.

Behind Japan’s childbirth decline are fewer marriages in recent years, stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, said Takumi Fujinami, an economist at Japan Research Institute.

Although the number of marriages edged up 2.2 percent to 499,999 in 2024, that came only after steep declines, such as a plunge of 12.7 percent in 2020.

Reuters

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