Overview

• Health Ministry data shows Japan recorded 686,061 births in 2024, a 5.7% drop that marked the first time annual births fell below 700,000 since records began in 1899.
• The total fertility rate declined to a postwar low of 1.15, extending a nine-year downward trend in childbearing.
• With 1.6 million deaths recorded, Japan’s population shrank by roughly 919,000, marking an 18th consecutive year of net loss.
• Experts attribute the slide to delayed marriage, high living costs, bleak job prospects and gender-biased workplace culture.
• Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has rolled out expanded child subsidies, tuition-free high school and enhanced parental leave compensation, but uptake has yet to reverse the demographic downturn.