Photo/Illutration Japan is in need of more babies. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The number of births in Japan in the first half of the year came to 350,074, the lowest figure since 1969, the health ministry said in a preliminary report.

Compared with the same period last year, the number of births was down 5.7 percent, or 20,978, according to the Population Survey Report on Aug. 30.

In 2023, the figure was down by 3.6 percent, or 13,890, compared with the same period the year before, showing that the slide in the birth rate has not halted.

It was the third consecutive year for the number of births to fall below 400,000 in the period from January to June.

Statistics released by the ministry in June showed that 727,277 children were born in 2023, the lowest number since 1899, when figures started to be compiled.

The government declared at a Cabinet meeting late last year that  it is taking “extraordinary measures to combat the declining birthrate.”

Its Children’s Future Strategy includes expanded child allowances and the removal of income limits to reduce the burden on parents of higher education costs.

The ministry report noted that the number of deaths in the first half of 2024 increased by 14,103, or 1.8 percent, year on year to 811,819, the highest number since 1969.

There were 248,513 marriages, an increase of 2,181 over the same period last year.

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