Births of Baby Declines Ten Consecutive Years

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare released Vital Statistics in 2025, in which annual births in Japan marked the lowest record for ten consecutive years. Total fertility rate also showed new low, giving evidence that Japanese society still in a trend of being aged. Although the government delivered policies to support young people, it is proved that they have not sufficiently working. 

The number of babies born in Japan in 2025 was 671,236, reduced by 14,937 from the previous year. Total fertility rate, which means the number of babies from a mother in her lifetime, was 1.14, slightly declined from 1.15 in 2024. The average age of first marriage was as late as 31 years old with no change for three years. Although a national institute once predicted that it would be 2040 when births in Japan declines as low as 670 thousand, Japan has reached it 15 years earlier. The ministry recognizes that multiple reasons are interconnected and admits that fertility decline in Japanese society has not been slowed down.

 

It is serious that urban area with dense population accelerates the trend of fertility decline. The prefecture with lowest total fertility rate was Tokyo with 0.96, positioning itself at an only prefecture below 1.00. Hokkaido and Miyagi followed Tokyo with 1.00. Okinawa achieved the highest total fertility rate with 1.52, followed by Miyazaki with 1.46 and Fukui with 1.45.

 

One of the positive elements in 2025 was that marriages increased. 489,119 couples were married in 2025, exceeding the number in the previous year by 4,027. On the other hand, divorces declined from 185,904 in 2024 to 179,068 in 2025. Deaths in 2025 were 1,589,489, declining from 2024 by 15,889. As a result, natural decline of population was reduced from 919,205 in 2024 to 918,253 in 2025.

 

It is supposed that difficulty for young people to live their ordinary lives causes growth of aged society in Japan. Price of rooms have been rising to the extent young people cannot afford. According to a research of Real Estate Economic Institute, average price of a new apartment house was 136 million yen in Tokyo metropolitan area in 2025. Average monthly salary for all ages in Tokyo is around 400 thousand yen. The price of a house worth one’s salary for 28 years.

 

Low birth rate affects management of medical institutions that are indispensable for Japan to have more babies. More medical centers for mothers and children in perinatal period have been integrated in everywhere Japan. Hospitals are reducing neonatal intensive care units, always suffering from shortage of obstetrics doctors. It is not easy for each hospital to introduce cutting-edge medical equipment with financial difficulties.

 

The government introduced a new system to support raising children with financial help of all the citizens. Starting in April 2026, several hundred yen a month is imposed on the premium of health insurance. The government uses that revenue for allowance for families with kids or support for nursery schools. However, it is unclear whether those policies encourage more couples to be married.

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