Recent government data shows that the birth rate in Japan has plummeted to its lowest level, with some experts warning that the country could see a 30% decline in population by 2070.
According to the numbers, births in 2023 fell 5.1% from a year earlier to 758,631, while the number of marriages decreased 5.9% to 489,281, marking the first time in 90 years the number fell below 500,000. According to Reuters, out-of-wedlock births in the country are rare, making the decreasing marriage rates a foreboding sign for future births. Estimates by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research warn that by 2070, four out of every 10 people will be aged 65 or older.
A top government spokesperson has said the government will take “unprecedented steps” to try and boost the population amidst the news of the dire numbers. “The declining birthrate is in a critical situation,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said. “The next six years or so until 2030, when the number of young people will rapidly decline, will be the last chance to reverse the trend.”
READ: Japan looks to increase its population as birth rate falls
“If we go on like this, the country will disappear,” warned Masako Mori, an adviser to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. She said the country’s birth rate is “not falling gradually, it’s heading straight down”. “A nosedive means children being born now will be thrown into a society that becomes distorted, shrinks and loses its ability to function,” she added.
Kishida has also called the falling birth rate the “gravest crisis our country faces.” Last year, he called for an increase in child support in order to combat the crisis, saying, “Policies on children and child care are the most effective investment for the future.”
Although officials are trying to raise the alarm, the government has simultaneously taken steps to approve the abortion pill in the country, and abortions are currently legal in Japan up until 22 weeks of pregnancy. Protecting the lives of its preborn citizens in the womb would do much to bolster the country’s declining birth rates.
