Tokyo
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Government data shows that Japan’s rapid population decline shows no signs of a slowdown, with over 900,000 people shrinking more than 900,000 people last year.
Data released on Wednesday by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Communications showed that the number of Japanese citizens fell by 908,574 in 2024, bringing the total population to 120 million.
Since peaking at 126.6 million in 2009, the population has declined for the 16th consecutive year, due to a range of factors, including the struggling economy and deep gender norms.
With the Japanese population still set to continue to plummet for decades, the country will feel a blow to pensions and health care systems, as well as other social infrastructure that are difficult to maintain with a shrinking workforce.
The government has been trying to combat decline for more than a decade, and as the crisis is fully revealed, efforts have accelerated in recent years, from providing births and housing subsidies to encouraging fathers to take a break.
However, each year fewer babies are born and more deaths are recorded. It is a symptom of a vicious cycle and a population that distorts the elderly population. New data shows that the proportion of elderly people is too high. New data shows that it accounts for nearly 30% of the total population, but the proportion of younger adults with child-rearing and working ages is continuing to shrink.
Last year was no exception. Only 687,689 births recorded, the lowest in records dating back to 1968, but nearly 1.6 million deaths were the highest on record.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the working age population defined between 15 and 64 consisted only 59% of Japan’s population last year.
This decline has been happening for decades thanks to Japan’s consistently low fertility since the 1970s. For this reason, sociologists and demographers say there is no quick revision – and it is not reversible.
Even if Japan grows dramatically, instantly, dramatically and instantly, its population will continue to decline for at least decades.
Experts point to Japan’s cost of living, stagnant economy and wages, limited space and demanding work culture as reasons why fewer people have dates, marriages or children.
For women, economic costs are not the only turn-off. Japan is a highly patriarchal society where married women are often expected to play the role of caregivers despite government efforts to deepen their husbands. Single parents are far less common in Japan than in many Western countries.
Many of these issues are also plagued by other East Asian countries, including China and South Korea.
One possible solution experts may point to is to close the gap by welcoming more immigrants. This is a controversial topic of Japan, a largely conservative country that recognizes as ethnically homogeneous. Japanese citizens, a mixed ethnic group and foreign residents, have advocated xenophobia, racism and discrimination.
However, the government has relied on this option to launch new digital nomadic visas and create new plans to boost foreign workers. And there are signs that it may be enabled. New data shows that the number of foreign residents in Japan rose more than 10% last year to a record high of 3.6 million.
According to a government model recently revised in 2023, Japan’s population will decline by 30% by 2070, but by then, “we expect the pace of population decline to be slightly reduced, mainly due to the increase in international migrants.”
