Japan faces a worrying demographic crisis birth rate In 2022, the numbers are falling for the seventh consecutive year, reaching record levels.
According to the Asian giant’s health ministry, the sense of crisis is intensifying as the country’s population shrinks and ages rapidly.
To give you an idea, just last year Japan saw its newborn birth rate fall by 5% to an alltime low of 770,747 births.
At the same time, the country saw an alarming 9% increase in the number of deaths, reaching a record 1.57 million deaths, according to available data.
According to the analysis published on the 26th, the fertility rate, which indicates the average number of children a woman gives birth to over a lifetime, was 1.2565. This rate is lower than the previous low from 2005 which was 1.2601.
Fewer and fewer children are being born in Japan
The new record is well below the rate of 2.07 deemed necessary to maintain a stable population. The situation highlights the challenges Japan faces in terms of population decline and an aging society.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is aware of the seriousness of the low birth rate and has made it a top priority for the government. Even in the face of financial challenges, the government is determined to take action to reverse this worrying trend.
Visiting a day care center, Kishida stressed the importance of acting quickly to reverse the declining fertility trend in Japan.
He stressed that the youth population will decline dramatically from the 2030s, making the current period the last chance to address this demographic challenge.
To support parents and encourage rising birth rates, the government plans to invest 3.5 trillion yen ($25 billion) annually in child care and other initiatives.
Adding to these problems, the prime minister pointed out that the Covid19 pandemic has further exacerbated the country’s demographic problems. Fewer marriages have led to fewer births in recent years, while the virus itself has been partly responsible for increases in death rates.