Japan's Population Drops by more than Half Million

Japan's total population has declined for the fifteenth consecutive year, according to government data released on Wednesday, falling by more than half a million people as the population continues to age and the number of births decline.

Births in Japan reached a record low of 730,000 last year, while, the number of deaths of 1.58 million last year was also a record. Japan's population reached 124.9 million people as of January 1.

Data released by the Ministry of Home Affairs also showed that an 11% increase in the number of foreign residents helped their numbers exceed 3 million for the first time.

They now constitute approximately 3% of the total population and most of them are of working age from 15 to 64 years.

Surveys show that younger Japanese are increasingly reluctant to marry or have children, due to bleak job prospects, the high cost of living - which is rising faster than salaries - and a gender-biased corporate culture that only adds to the burden on working women and mothers.

The government has allocated 5.3 trillion yen ($34 billion) as part of the 2024 budget to fund incentives for young couples to have more children, such as increased support for child care and education, and is expected to spend 3.6 trillion yen ($23 billion) on tax money annually over the three years. Coming.

Experts say that these measures are largely directed at couples who plan to have children or who already have children, but they do not address the growing number of young people who are hesitant about marriage.

Japan's population is expected to decline by about 30%, reaching 87 million by 2070, when four out of every 10 people will be 65 or older.