Japan's fertility rate declined in 2024 for the ninth consecutive year, reaching another historical low that underscores the immense challenge facing the government as it attempts to reverse the trend in one of the world’s most aged societies.
The total fertility rate — the average number of children a woman is likely to have over her childbearing years — fell to 1.15, down from 1.2 the previous year, and marking the lowest rate in records going back to 1947, according to a health ministry release on Wednesday. The trend was particularly notable in Tokyo, where the rate was below 1 for the second year in a row.
The total number of births dropped to about 686,000, marking the first time the figure has fallen below 700,000. Deaths totaled around 1.61 million, leading to a net population decline of roughly 919,000 and extending the run of annual drops in the country’s population to 18 years. The data exclude migration.
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