The number of #births registered in #japan fell to a new record low last year, continuing a decades-long decline that the country's authorities have failed to reverse despite extensive efforts have been made.



According to statistics published by the Ministry of Health on Tuesday, the nation experienced 799,728 births in 2022, the lowest number on record and the very first time that number ever fell below 800,000. Over the last 40 years, that figure has almost halved.


Moreover, Japan recorded more than 1.58 million post-war deaths, a record high.


For more than a decade, deaths have outpaced births in Japan, which has become a rising concern for the country's leaders who are in charge of the third-largest economy in the world. As demand from the aging population soars, they now have to contend with a growing elderly population and a declining workforce to pay for #retirement and healthcare.


With #kishida stating in January that he wants the government to double its spending on child-related programs, a new government agency will be established in April to concentrate on the issue of the country's low birth rate.

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