The low birth rate in Japan has intensified, and the number of children has decreased for 44 consecutive years

Data released by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on Sunday (May 4th) showed that the number of children in Japan has decreased for 44 consecutive years. As of April 1st, the number of children under the age of 15, including foreigners, was 13.66 million, a decrease of 350,000 compared with the previous year.

According to the data released on the eve of Children's Day in Japan on May 5th, the proportion of children in the total population in Japan dropped by 0.2 percentage points to 11.1%. Both the number and the proportion hit their lowest levels since 1950 when comparable data were available. Kyodo News Agency pointed out that the decline in the number of births in Japan has not been curbed, highlighting the increasingly serious degree of low birth rate.

In terms of gender, there are 6.99 million boys and 6.66 million girls. Taking every three years as an age group, the lower the age group, the smaller the number. There are 3.14 million children aged 12 to 14 and 2.22 million children aged zero to two.

According to the statistics as of October 1st last year, the number of children in all 47 prefectures of Japan decreased year-on-year. Only Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture had more than one million children.

The highest proportion of children in the population is in Okinawa, at 15.8%, followed by Shiga and Saga at 12.7%, and Kumamoto at 12.6%. The lowest is 8.8% in Akita.

The number of children in Japan peaked at 29.89 million in 1954 and then began to decline. Around the Second baby boom (from 1971 to 1974), the number of children in Japan once increased, but has been continuously decreasing since 1982.

United Nations data shows that among 37 countries with a population of over 40 million, the proportion of children in Japan is only better than 10.6% in South Korea, ranking second lowest.