Births dipped below 700,000 for the first time since at least 1899, Tokyo said.
Births in Japan fell to a record low last year, according to newly released government data, as the country faces a deepening demographic crisis.
Newsweek has contacted the Japanese Foreign Ministry for comment by email.Why It Matters
Japan’s steadily declining births and overall aging population present serious long-term risks, threatening to sap the world’s fifth-largest economy of vitality and strain its social welfare system.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has labeled the trend a « quiet emergency » and made reversing it a central pillar of his agenda.What To Know
The number of babies born to Japanese citizens in 2024 fell to 686,061, a 5.7 percent drop from the previous year, according to statistics the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare released on Wednesday. It marked the first time since 1899, when record-keeping began, that annual births fell below 700,000.
