Number of newborns dips below 1 million for first time
Japanese government on Thursday announced the number of babies born in Japan is estimated to have fallen below 1 million in 2016, for the first time since the government started to compile comparative figures in 1899. The numbers of newborns were estimated to total 981,000 for the year, compared to 1.3 million deaths, leading to […]
Japanese government on Thursday announced the number of babies born in Japan is estimated to have fallen below 1 million in 2016, for the first time since the government started to compile comparative figures in 1899.
The numbers of newborns were estimated to total 981,000 for the year, compared to 1.3 million deaths, leading to a natural population drop of 315,000.
Japan’s birth rate is among the lowest in the world and the new low tally is bad news for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government, which has vowed to tackle the demographic crisis.
Earlier this year, Abe’s government set a goal of raising the total fertility rate to 1.8 births per 1,000 women by 2025, from 1.43 in 2013.
However, so far it has failed to say how.
The population has been dropping steadily since 2005, when deaths outnumbered births for the first time.
Data from the country’s health ministry showed the number of newborns fell below 2 million in 1975 and below 1.1 million in 2005.
According to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, people aged 65 or older are expected to make up about 40 per cent of Japan’s population by 2060. (dpa/NAN)