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The number of births in 2021 in Japan fell by 3.5% from the previous year to 811,604, hitting the lowest level on record, according to data released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Friday.
That figure has been falling since 2016, when it first dropped below 1 million, and it is now on track to fall below 800,000.
The number of births only include Japanese citizens living in Japan. The preliminary figure released in February, which contained Japanese citizens living at home and abroad, as well as foreigners living in Japan, was 842,897, down 3.4% from 2020.
Japan's total fertility rate, which indicates the number of children a woman will have during her lifetime on average, also fell 0.03 point to 1.30 in 2021 from the previous year.
This marks the sixth straight year the number has declined. The figure fell further from 2020, when the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was most evident, reaching its fourth-lowest point since the number has been tracked.
After falling below 2.00 in 1975, the fertility rate has consistently trended downward, reaching a nadir of 1.26 in 2005. From that point it has risen gradually as the children of Japan's postwar baby boomers reached childbearing age, increasing to 1.45 in 2015.
asia.nikkei.com
That figure has been falling since 2016, when it first dropped below 1 million, and it is now on track to fall below 800,000.
The number of births only include Japanese citizens living in Japan. The preliminary figure released in February, which contained Japanese citizens living at home and abroad, as well as foreigners living in Japan, was 842,897, down 3.4% from 2020.
Japan's total fertility rate, which indicates the number of children a woman will have during her lifetime on average, also fell 0.03 point to 1.30 in 2021 from the previous year.
This marks the sixth straight year the number has declined. The figure fell further from 2020, when the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was most evident, reaching its fourth-lowest point since the number has been tracked.
After falling below 2.00 in 1975, the fertility rate has consistently trended downward, reaching a nadir of 1.26 in 2005. From that point it has risen gradually as the children of Japan's postwar baby boomers reached childbearing age, increasing to 1.45 in 2015.
Japan confirms record low of 811,604 births last year
Population decline nears worst-case estimates as deaths hit postwar high
asia.nikkei.com
