Politics & Government

Fertility Rate Matches Record Low

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry

Jiji Press

11:12 JST, June 3, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japan’s total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman in the country is expected to have in her lifetime, fell to 1.26 in 2022, matching the record low set in 2005, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said Friday.

The annual number of babies born in the country fell to 770,747 last year, falling below 800,000 for the first time since such records began in 1899.

The latest data suggests that the country’s population continues to decline, with serious implications for the sustainability of society.

The record-low figure came after the annual number of marriages hit a post-World War II low in 2020 and 2021.