According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the number of children born last year fell below 800,000 for the first time since the start of national statistics, with a preliminary figure of more than 799,000.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said, "It can be said that it is a crisis that will drastically change the foundations of society and the economy, and we would like to work on countermeasures in cooperation with related ministries and agencies."
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the number of children born last year was 799,728, including foreigners.
43,169 people, a 5.1% decrease from the previous year, fell below 800,000 people for the first time since we started collecting statistics in 1899, and updated the lowest ever.
It is the seventh year in a row that the number of births has decreased.
The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research announced in 2017 that the number of Japanese children will drop below 800,000 by 2030, indicating that the declining birthrate is progressing faster than expected.
On the other hand, the number of people who died last year was 1,582,033, an increase of 129,744 from the previous year, the highest ever.
In addition, the number of marriages was 519,823, an increase of 5,581, the first increase in three years, and the number of divorces was 183,103, a decrease of 4,751.
Regarding the decline in the number of births, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said, ``It seems that various factors are intertwined in a complex way that prevent people from realizing their hopes for marriage, childbirth, and child-rearing. I would like to work on it."