By KENJIRO TAKAHASHI/ Staff Writer
February 27, 2024 at 18:56 JST
The number of births in Japan hit a record low of 758,631 in 2023, falling for the eighth consecutive year, the health ministry’s preliminary statistics showed on Feb. 27.
That figure includes babies born to non-Japanese parents in Japan and those born to Japanese parents abroad.
It represents a decline of 41,097 births, or 5.14 percent, from 2022, when the number of births fell below 800,000 for the first time since statistics were first compiled in 1899.
The pace of decrease has been accelerating since the number of births dropped below the 1 million mark in 2017.
According to a report released by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research in April, the number of births was projected to drop to 755,000 in 2035, meaning that the forecast level has been almost reached 12 years earlier.
The report estimated that the number of births in 2023 would be 762,000.
Health ministry officials said multiple factors contributed to the falling number of births, adding that the novel coronavirus could be among them.
The number of marriages in 2023 was 489,281, falling below 500,000 for the first time since the end of World War II, according to the ministry statistics.
The figure fell 30,542, or 5.9 percent, from the previous year.
The number of marriages dropped 12.7 percent in 2020 and 4.3 percent in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It edged up 1.1 percent in 2022 but fell back again last year.
The decrease could affect the future birthrate because experts say there is close correlation between marriages and childbirths in Japan.
The approximate number of babies born to Japanese parents in Japan is announced in June every year.
The figure for 2023 is estimated to be between 720,000 and 730,000, according to calculations based on the ministry’s formula.
The Kishida Cabinet in December approved a package of measures dubbed the Children’s Future Strategy Policy to stem the declining birthrate.
The government submitted a bill to the current ordinary Diet session to expand child allowances and secure revenue for the proposed measures.
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