Births, another negative record: the lowest number since 1899

In 2017 birth estimate of 941 thousand children, 36 thousand less than last year. On the other hand, the deaths increase equally: 1.344 million. Shinzo Abe: reach a fertility rate of 1.8 children per woman by 2025.

Tokyo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Japan has once again registered a negative birth record. In 2017 the smallest number of children were born since the beginning of records in 1899. Statistics published yesterday by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Services, state that 941,000 children were born this year, about 36,000 less than last year. It is the second consecutive time that the births remain below one million, far from 1949, when they reached a peak of 2.7 million.

In the Land of the Rising Sun, more people died than we are born. This year, 1.344 million people died, a post-war record and a figure higher than last 36 thousand. In 2017, the Japanese population decreased by 403 thousand people, 72 thousand more than in 2016.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promises to combat demographic decline with support for childcare and education. The government's commitment is to reach a total fertility rate (tft) of 1.8 children per woman by 2025. Last year it stood still at 1.44.

Even the number of marriages in 2017 has shrunk, reaching the lowest point since the post-war period, with 607 thousand couples getting married, 14 thousand less last year.

On average, in Japan in 2017 one child was born every 34 seconds, one person died every 23 and a couple got married every 52.

• Japan
• demographic crisis
• births
• deaths
• population decline
• children