Japan is experiencing a severe population decline, with a record low of 730,000 births and a record high of 1.58 million deaths in 2023, leading to a population drop of 861,237, the largest ever recorded. The country has the world's second-oldest population after Monaco, with a record-low fertility rate of 1.2 children per woman.
The number of foreign nationals living in Japan has reached a record high of 3.32 million as of January 1, marking an 11% increase from the previous year and the highest since 2013. This is attributed to the end of pandemic-era border controls and the need for foreign workers due to population decline.
Younger Japanese are less likely to get married or have children due to high cost of living, dimming job prospects, and a gender-biased corporate culture, discouraging them from starting families.
The Japanese government has allocated 5.3 trillion yen ($34 billion) in the 2024 budget to fund incentives for young couples to have more children, including increasing subsidies for childcare and education, with an expected annual expenditure of 3.6 trillion yen ($23 billion) over the next three years.
Japan's diminishing population presents challenges such as labor shortages, with the service sector having almost three job openings for each worker seeking employment, and construction firms facing even tighter labor markets, leading to a record 260 companies going bankrupt in 2023 due to insufficient workforce availability.
Japan's declining population and a growing elderly population put pressure on the social security system, with a projected 10% decrease in tax and insurance revenues by 2040, making it challenging to finance increasing social security costs. Experts predict Japan's population will decrease by 30% to 87 million by 2070, with 4 out of 10 people being 65 years or older.
Sources: Newsweek, AP News, Time, Yahoo News, Japan News Yomiuri, Arab News, The Guardian, France24, Nikkei Asia, Al Bawaba, India TV News, The Japan Times, Benzinga, Asahi, AnyTV News, Ahram Online, The Straits Times
This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.
