Japan’s population fell by a record 898,000 people in the past year, marking the largest annual decline in the country’s history and intensifying concerns over its rapidly aging society and shrinking birthrate.
Japan’s population has experienced its steepest annual decline on record, shrinking by 898,000 people as of October 2024 compared to the previous year, according to Tokyo-based Kyodo News, citing government estimates.
This marks the 14th consecutive year of population decline in the country. The previous record drop of 861,000 was reported in July 2024. Japan’s total population, including foreign residents, now stands at approximately 120.3 million, highlighting the country’s deepening demographic challenges driven by a low birthrate and an aging population.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications reported that only Tokyo and the neighboring Saitama prefecture recorded population increases. The current figures represent the largest demographic drop since comparable data collection began in 1968.
In response to the ongoing crisis, Japan’s parliament passed legislation in June 2024 aimed at boosting the birthrate. The law includes measures such as increased child allowances and improved parental leave policies.
Officials have emphasized that the years leading up to 2030 are crucial for reversing the trend. Commonly cited causes include delayed marriage, economic insecurity, and insufficient support for working parents.
Japan’s total fertility rate—the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime—fell to a record low in 2023, the lowest since tracking began in 1947.
U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to make the Strait of Hormuz part of U.S. territory have been mocked by Iran's Deputy Foreign Ministe...
Five years ago today, Taliban fighters entered Kabul, completing a rapid takeover of Afghanistan as the former government collapsed....
For fishermen along Pakistan’s southwestern coast, the consequences of the U.S.-Iran conflict are being felt far from the battlefield....
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled or rerouted at Catania Airport over the past week as ash from Mount Etna’s ongoing eruption continues to disrupt air travel in Sicily.
Wildfires across England and Wales have reached their highest level on record, according to the National Fire Chiefs Council, as firefighters struggle to contain outbreaks following a spell of extreme heat.
The U.S. will impose unprecedented measures on Iran in order to economically isolate the country, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said.
U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to make the Strait of Hormuz part of U.S. territory have been mocked by Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, who said the sea passage "cannot be seized by tweet."
At least 47 people have been killed after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off eastern Indonesia early on Saturday, triggering small tsunami waves and dozens of aftershocks, officials say.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised deepening ties with North Korea, saying Moscow and Pyongyang are coordinating their efforts to ensure “regional security and stability”.
Russia and Ukraine traded large-scale overnight attacks targeting energy, industrial and military facilities on Saturday, with a three-month-old baby killed and 11 people injured in a Russian drone strike on a residential building in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region.
At least 47 people have been killed after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off eastern Indonesia early on Saturday, triggering small tsunami waves and dozens of aftershocks, officials say.
Jason Arday, the former University of Cambridge professor at the centre of a plagiarism row, has been found dead. He was appointed Cambridge's youngest ever Black professor in 2023, but quit on 5 August, after being accused of lifting passages from his PhD from the work of other academics.
Wildfires across England and Wales have reached their highest level on record, according to the National Fire Chiefs Council, as firefighters struggle to contain outbreaks following a spell of extreme heat.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment