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Despite government efforts to promote family-friendly policies, Japan's birth rate remains stubbornly low, with deaths exceeding births by almost a million last year – the steepest population decline since 1968. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has described this demographic crisis as a "quiet emergency," and proposed free childcare to help with this, however, previous efforts have had little impact.
New data released on Wednesday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed the number of Japanese nationals fell by 908,574 in 2024. Japan recorded 686,061 births - the lowest number since records began in 1899 - while nearly 1.6 million people died, meaning for every baby born, more than two people died.
It marks the 16th consecutive year of population decline with the squeeze being felt by the nation's pension and healthcare systems.
Japan's fertility rate - the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime - has been low since the 1970s
The overall population of the country declined by 0.44 percent from 2023 to about 124.3 million at the start of the year.
Elderly people aged 65 and over now make up nearly 30% of the population - the second-highest proportion in the world after Monaco, according to the World Bank. The working-age population, defined as those between 15 and 64, has dropped to about 60%.
A growing number of towns and villages are hollowing out, with nearly four million homes abandoned over the past two decades, government data released last year showed.
The government has spent years trying to increase birth rates with incentives ranging from housing subsidies to paid parental leave. But deep-rooted cultural and economic barriers remain. High living costs, stagnant wages and a rigid work culture deter many young people from starting families. Women, in particular, face entrenched gender roles that often leave them with limited support as primary caregivers.
The number of foreign residents reached a record high of 3.6 million people as of 1 January 2025, however, representing nearly 3% of Japan's population.
