By TAKURO CHIBA/ Staff Writer
May 4, 2024 at 18:08 JST
Children shout for joy every time water rises from a fountain at a park in Chiba’s Wakaba Ward on April 28. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The number of children in Japan under the age of 15 as of April 1 stood at 14.01 million, down 330,000 from the previous year, to mark the 43rd consecutive year of decline, the government said May 4.
The figures were released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications ahead of Children’s Day on May 5.
Children accounted for 11.3 percent of the total population, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous year for the 50th consecutive year of decline.
Both the number and the ratio of children were at their lowest since 1950, when comparable statistics were first collated.
The number of youngsters has almost halved since the 27.23 million in 1975, when they accounted for 24.3 percent of the total population.
By sex, the number of girls fell by 160,000 to 6.83 million while the number of boys declined by 170,000 to 7.18 million. By age group, the number of children of junior high school age, those between 12 and 14, came to 3.17 million, but the number shrank with the corresponding drop in the age of the children. There were 2.35 million children aged 2 or younger.
By prefecture, the number of children decreased in all prefectures for the third consecutive year as of Oct. 1, 2023.
Only Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture had more than 1 million children each. Osaka Prefecture had 984,000 children, falling below 1 million for the first time since 1970, when comparable figures became available.
Okinawa Prefecture had the highest percentage of children in the population at 16.1 percent, followed by Shiga Prefecture at 13.0 percent and Saga Prefecture at 12.9 percent. The lowest ratio was 9.1 percent in Akita Prefecture, the only prefecture in Japan with a ratio below 10 percent, followed by Aomori Prefecture at 10.0 percent and Hokkaido at 10.1 percent.
The percentage of children in each country based on United Nations statistical data for 2023 was also released. Although simple comparisons are difficult, Japan ranks second worst among the 37 countries with populations of 40 million or more, following South Korea at 11.2 percent. Italy, Spain and Germany followed at 12.2 percent, 13.5 percent and 14.0 percent, respectively.
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