Japan’s birth rate has fallen ten years in a row, according to official data released on Thursday, highlighting the growing issue the country’s population faces, as Japan faces mounting demographic stresses.
Preliminary figures of the health Ministry show that 705,809 babies were born in 2025; a 2.1 per cent drop from last year.
The data covers birth of Japanese nationals in Japan, foreign nationals giving birth in Japan and Japanese citizens abroad.
Marriage trends provided some slight relief. A total of 505,656 couples tied the knot in 2025, up by 1.1 percent, divorces declined by 3.7 percent to 182,969 cases.
In the meantime, casualties were 1,605,654 – a decrease of 0.8 percent for the comparative year of 2024.
Japan’s total population was 122.86 million as of February with a decrease of 580,000, or 0.47 percent, from a year ago, the internal affairs ministry said.
The country continues to be one of the fastest ageing societies in the world with one of the lowest birth rates amongst major economies.
The consequences are far reaching. Labour scarcities are beginning to intensify, the cost of social security is increasing and fewer workers are becoming an economic burden on the tax revenue.
Japan has already the highest debt-to-GDP ratio among advanced economies.
Recent figures revealed that almost 100,000 people in Japan are 100 or older, about 90 percent of them women.
Rural communities are also hurting: around four million homes are now abandoned and well over 40 percent of municipalities reportedly at risk of extinction.
Successive governments have promised to increase birth rates including current PM Takaichi, the country’s first woman premier.
Even Tokyo’s city administration has opened a dating website.
Despite efforts by the policy, officials accept that there has been limited success. Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masanao Ozaki said that birth rate can be increased by creating a better economy and easing the burden of child care for working families.
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