TOKYO —&nbsp;The number of babies born in Japan fell for a ninth consecutive year to hit a record low 720,988 in 2024, the health ministry said on Thursday (Feb 27), the latest data underscoring the rapid shrinkage and ageing of the country's population.

Births declined five&nbsp;per cent&nbsp;from a year earlier, while the number of deaths hit a record high of 1.62 million, meaning more than two people died for every new baby born.

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A seven-month-old baby and her mother look at early flowering Kanzakura cherry blossoms in full bloom at the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in Tokyo, Japan on March 14, 2018. 

Japan

birthrate

death

Ageing

Population / Demographics

Reuters

TOKYO — The number of babies born in Japan fell for a ninth consecutive year to hit a record low 720,988 in 2024, the health ministry said on Thursday (Feb 27), the latest data underscoring the rapid shrinkage and ageing of the country's population. Births declined five per cent from a year earlier, while the number of deaths hit a...

Japan's new births fall 9 straight years to record low in 2024