Japan Child Population Down for 45th Straight Year

Tokyo, May 4 (Jiji Press)--The estimated population of children under 15 stood at 13.29 million in Japan as of April 1, down for the 45th straight year, the internal affairs ministry said Monday.

The child population, down 350,000 from a year earlier, again fell to the lowest level since 1950, when data comparable under the current format started. The ministry's announcement preceded Children's Day on Tuesday.

The population stood at 6.81 million for boys and 6.48 million for girls. The share of children in the country's total population fell 0.3 percentage point to 10.8 pct, dropping for the 52nd consecutive year to rewrite its record low again.

The proportion is the second lowest among 38 countries with total populations exceeding 40 million, only behind South Korea's 10.2 pct, based on data adopting a different survey period. Japan was followed by Italy at 11.7 pct and by Spain at 12.6 pct.

Of the child population in Japan, 3.09 million were aged between 12 and 14, 2.96 million between 9 and 11, 2.68 million between 6 and 8, 2.43 million between 3 and 5, and 2.13 million between zero and 2.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]