Japan’s population emergency

The number of newborn babies in Japan is
falling faster than expected, with new data
showing the figure last year fell below
700,000 – about a quarter of the
post-war peak in 1949

NUMBER OF LIVE BIRTHS
IN JAPAN (millions)

Prime Minister
Shigeru Ishiba calls
it a “silent emergency”

1900 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 2000 10 20

0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000

1899:
1,386,981
Record
keeping
begins

1944-46:
No data during
Second World War

1949:
2,696,638
Post-war
baby
boom

1966:
1,360,974
Plummets due to fire
horse superstition that
girls born that year would
bring bad fortune, especially
to future husbands

2024:
686,061

Sources: AP, Official Statistics of Japan, Our World in Data Picture: Getty
© GRAPHIC NEWS