Japan births fall for 10th straight year

TOKYO

The number of births in Japan fell for the 10th straight year in 2025, official data showed on Feb. 26, highlighting the challenges for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

A total of 705,809 babies were born in Japan, the preliminary health ministry data showed, down 2.1 percent from 2024.

The data includes births to Japanese nationals in Japan, foreign births in Japan and babies born to Japanese nationals overseas.

Meanwhile, 505,656 couples got married in 2025, up 1.1 percent, while the number of divorces fell 3.7 percent to 182,969 cases.

There were 1,605,654 deaths, down 13,030 or 0.8 percent from 2024.

The internal affairs ministry estimated Japan's overall population as of February at 122.86 million people, down 0.47 percent, or 580,000, from a year ago.

The world's fourth-biggest economy has one of the world's lowest birth rates and a falling and ageing population.

This is leading to a host of problems, including labor shortages, a ballooning social security bill and fewer working people paying tax.

That in turn is adding to Japan's huge debts. It already has the highest debt ratio among major economies.

Figures last year showed that the number of people aged 100 or older was almost 100,000, with close to 90 percent of them women.

The shrinking population is also gutting rural communities. The number of abandoned homes in Japan is now around four million.

Over 40 percent of municipalities risk extinction, according to a recent study.

Successive Japanese leaders, including Takaichi, the country's first woman premier, have promised to increase births but with limited success.