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According to a new government report, Japan recorded its fewest births on record last year, with more than twice as many deaths. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba referred to this as “a quiet emergency.” Newsweek reached out to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for comment outside office hours.
### Why It Matters
Japan continues to face grim demographic challenges as birth rates decline and its population shrinks. The country’s total fertility rate, which measures the average number of children a woman is expected to have, fell to 1.15 in 2024 from 1.2 the previous year, despite extensive government incentives and some of the world’s most generous parental leave policies.
The shift has been influenced by economic concerns, including changing family attitudes among younger generations, rising living costs, and a significant childcare burden that disproportionately affects mothers. Japanese policymakers have warned that this trend could become irreversible by the end of the decade.
### What to Know
Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications reported that the country’s population fell by 908,574 people in 2024—the 16th consecutive year of decline. Births totaled 686,061, the lowest since records began in 1899, while deaths reached 1.6 million.
Japanese nationals aged 65 and older now account for 30 percent of the population, with the working-age group (aged 15-64) dipping to approximately 60 percent. Japan has the second-highest proportion of elderly citizens in the world after Monaco, according to the World Bank. The number of foreign residents climbed to a record 3.6 million as of January 1, representing almost 3 percent of the overall population.
To address labor shortages in sectors like elder care and manufacturing, Japan is easing its strict immigration rules. Reforms aim to triple the foreign workforce by 2040, allowing more workers to stay longer and bring their families.
### What People Are Saying
Takumi Fujinami, a senior researcher at the Japan Research Institute, stated that low-income groups are not having children. He argued that improving young people’s economic situations—such as raising the minimum wage—should be an urgent task so they can marry and have children.
Kei Nishiuchi, CEO of SoujouData Inc., noted that the increasing number of elderly and shrinking working-age population is impacting overall productivity and challenging societal assumptions about resource redistribution.
In a parliamentary speech in October, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba emphasized that low birth rates and resulting population decline pose a significant challenge to the country’s foundations—a quiet emergency.
### What Happens Next?
Japan has intensified efforts to counter its demographic challenges by providing subsidies for childcare, education, and fertility treatments.
📚 Reading Comprehension Quiz
According to the government report, how many more deaths were there compared to births in Japan last year?
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