Japan's Births Decline to Record Low for 10th Straight Year

Tokyo, Feb. 26 (Jiji Press)--Japan's annual number of births fell to 705,809 in 2025, marking a preliminary record low for the 10th consecutive year, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said Thursday.

According to the latest preliminary report, births decreased by 15,179, or 2.1 pct, from the previous year, compared with declines of around 5 pct in 2022-2024.

By prefecture, only Tokyo and the central prefecture of Ishikawa reported an increase in births from the previous year.

The government spends 3.6 trillion yen annually to address the decline in births, which is progressing more than 15 years earlier than projections made by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

"With no end in sight for the decline in births, we take the situation seriously," a ministry official said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]