Decline of Population Accelerated

The population of Japan keeps on decreasing for fourteen straight years and its pace is accelerated, despite consistent effort of the government to raise birth rate. Ministry for Internal Affairs and Communications released annual Current Population Estimates that marked 550 thousand of decrease of population in Japan. Caring for aged people and encouraging young agers to have kids are becoming further serious problems in Japanese society. 

According to the statistics, the population of Japan was 123,802 thousand as of October 2024, decreasing 0.44 percent from the previous year. While male population decreased by 0.43 percent to 60,233 thousand, female population showed greater decline with 0.45 percent to 63,569 thousand. Natural decrease of male continued for twenty consecutive years and of female for sixteen consecutive years.

 

Natural decrease indicates more people, mainly aged ones, died than new births. New births surpassed deaths until 2006. However, negative trend began in 2007 and natural decrease kept on increasing year by year. Although natural decrease was 252 thousand in 2014, it has swollen to 890 thousand ten years later. New births in 2024 were 720 thousand, renewing the lowest record.

 

The Japanese government has delivered policies to support young people to raise children. They include allowance for families with little child, free education for high school students, full availability of nursing school and increasing benefit for the leave to raise kids. But the stats show no progress due to the policies against low birth rate.

 

Japan got older than ever. People younger than 15 years old were 13,830 thousand, marking the lowest record. Working agers between 15 and 64 years old also decreased to 73,728 thousand, causing concern on weaker productivity in Japanese economy. People in 65 years old and older increased to 36,243 thousand, with increase of 17 thousand. They occupy 29.3 percent of whole population. People in 75 years old or older remarkably increased by 700 thousand to 20,777 thousand. The share of 65 years old and older, as well as 75 and older, recorded new high.

 

Foreigners in Japan keep on increasing. They amounted to 3,506 thousand, marking a new high. Newcomers surpassed the people left Japan by 342 thousand. Even though Japan included more foreigners, it lost greater number of its nationals. Japan lost 898 thousand of the Japanese. Total number of the Japanese is 120,296 thousand. The foreigners occupy 2.8 percent of the Japanese.

 

Demographic decentralization has not been achieved. Among 47 prefectures in Japan, Tokyo and one of its neighbors, Saitama, only saw increase of their population. Tokyo added 92 thousand people, topping in the ratio of population of working agers between 15 and 64 years old at 66.8 percent. While Okinawa has the greatest share of young people below 15 years old, old people beyond 64 years old have biggest share in Akita. A tendency of the people leaving rural area and going to three urban area of Tokyo, Oasaka and Nagoya has not changed a lot.