Photo/Illutration Colorful “koinobori’ (flying carp) flutter in the wind in Nagoya on May 2. (Umeka Yoshinaga)

The number of children under the age of 15 in Japan decreased by 250,000 year on year to a record low 14.65 million as of April 1, the internal affairs ministry said.

The estimate was released on May 5, the Children’s Day national holiday.

Japan’s child population has declined for 41 consecutive years starting from 1982. The latest number is the lowest since the ministry’s survey started in 1950.

Children accounted for 11.7 percent of Japan’s entire population, 0.1 point down from the previous year. The ratio has dropped for 48 straight years.

The number of boys was 7.51 million, while the number of girls was 7.15 million.

Younger age groups accounted for smaller ratios of the population.

There were 3.23 million children in the age group between 12 and 14, compared with 2.51 million between 0 and 2.

According to data for Oct. 1, the number of children decreased in all 47 prefectures for the first time since 1999.

Okinawa Prefecture had the highest ratio of children, at 16.5 percent of its population. Shiga Prefecture was next, at 13.4 percent, followed by Saga Prefecture, at 13.3 percent.

Akita Prefecture had the lowest ratio of children, at 9.5 percent, followed by Aomori Prefecture’s 10.4 percent and Hokkaido’s 10.5 percent.

The ministry also compared Japan’s percentage of children with the ratios in other countries with populations of at least 40 million.

Although it is difficult to make simple comparisons, Japan had the lowest level.

South Korea’s ratio of children was 11.9 percent as of July 1, 2021. Italy’s ratio was 12.9 percent as of Jan. 1, 2021, while Germany’s figure was 13.8 percent as of Dec. 31, 2020.

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