By KENJIRO TAKAHASHI/ Staff Writer
May 28, 2024 at 17:59 JST
A baby (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Births continue declining in Japan with the number falling in the first quarter of 2024 to 170,804, including babies born to non-Japanese parents, a decrease of 11,673 from a year ago, according to the health ministry.
That marked a drop of 6.4 percent from the same period a year ago and the decrease remained at a high level, showing that the decline in the number of children continues unabated.
The health ministry disclosed the number of births in the preliminary vital statistics that it recently released.
The number of births, including babies born to non-Japanese, hit a record-low 758,631 last year, decreasing 5.14 percent year on year.
One of the causes is believed to be the decreasing number of marriages, but those increased by 1.3 percent to 136,653 during the first three months of 2024.
The number of births fell below 800,000 for the first time in 2022. The government has emphasized that the period before the 2030s offers the last chance to turn around the nation's declining birthrate.
Related bills submitted in the Diet for measures to address the falling birthrate, which total 3.6 trillion yen ($23 billion) a year, include significantly enhancing child benefits.
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