Births in Japan Hit Record Low for Jan.-June

Tokyo, Aug. 30 (Jiji Press)--The number of babies born in Japan in January-June decreased 5.7 pct from a year before to 350,074, hitting a record low for the first half, the health ministry said in a preliminary report on Friday.

The first-half figure fell short of 400,000 for the third consecutive year, while the pace of decline accelerated from the year-before drop of 3.6 pct.

If the number of births falls at a similar pace in the second half of 2024, the annual total could fall below 700,000 for the first time.

Meanwhile, the number of couples who got married in January-June grew 0.9 pct to 248,513, up for the first time in two years. The number of deaths increased 1.8 pct to 811,819, bringing the country's natural population decline, or the number of deaths minus that of births, to 461,745.

The annual number of births was below 800,000 for the first time in 2022, and fell to a record low of 727,277 in 2023, marking the eighth consecutive year of decline.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]