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Updated June 5th, 2021 at 06:48 IST

Japan's birth rate falls to a record low amid COVID-19 pandemic: Govt data

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the number of newborn babies in Japan fell to a record low last year, according to data released by the Japanese government.

Reported by: Bhavya Sukheja
Japan
IMAGE: PIXABAY | Image:self
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Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the number of newborn babies in Japan fell to a record low last year. According to data released by the Japanese government on June 3, the number of babies born in 2020 fell to 840,832, down 2.8 per cent or 24,407 compared to 2019. As per an Independent report, it is for the first time that the country recorded fewer than 900,000 births since records began. 

As per the official data, the number of registered marriages in Japan has also fallen by 12.3 per cent, to 525,490, a post-war record. The country’s fertility rate, which is the expected number of births per woman, fell to 1.34. In the capital city Tokyo, the birth rate is at 1.13, which is the lowest in the country. 

Japan has a total population of around 126 million. The latest record suggests that the birth rate could decline even further, with the number of newborns falling 9.2 per cent in the January to March period. Further, it also suggests that people are putting off marriages and thereby start a family amid financial instability as a result of the pandemic. 

Average age at time of 1st child increasing 

Japanese politicians have raised concerns over the effect of the declining birth rate on the country’s economy in areas including the job and housing markets. Experts have said that Japan’s shrinking population can be attributed to young people focusing on their careers and abstaining from marriage, while senior citizens are living longer than ever. As per the data, the age of people giving birth to a child is also increasing, with the average age at the time of a first child being 30.7 years. 

Meanwhile, a declining number of births is a common trend among rich nations and Japan has long been searching for ways to encourage a baby boom. Its giant neighbour China, on the other hand, earlier this month tweaked its strict two-child policy to allow all couples to have up to three children, in a major policy change to head off a worsening labour shortage that could seriously impact the world's second-largest economy's further rise. China, the world's most populous nation, permitted all couples to have two children in 2016, scrapping the draconian decades-old one-child policy which policymakers blame for the current demographic crisis in the country.

 

(Image: PIXABAY)

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Published June 5th, 2021 at 06:48 IST

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