Tokyo: A Japanese government survey shows the country had a record-low number of births for the first half of this year.
According to Bahrain News Agency, the health ministry reports that its preliminary figures indicate 339,280 babies, including foreign nationals, were born in Japan from January through June. This marks a decrease of 10,794, or 3.1 percent, compared to the same period last year and is the lowest figure since the government began record-keeping in 1969.
The current figure represents a significant drop of about 30 percent since 2015. Last year, the number of babies born to Japanese nationals exceeded 686,000, which was already an all-time low. If the declining trend persists in the latter half of this year, the annual births of Japanese children could potentially reach another record low.
The survey also highlights a decline in the number of marriages in Japan, which stood at 238,561 for the first half of this year, a decrease of 9,952 from the same period last year. The health ministry has expressed concern over the shrinking young population and the trend of people marrying and having children later in life, contributing to the continuous decline in the country's birthrate.
In response to these findings, the ministry has committed to collaborating with other government offices to address and combat Japan's declining birth rate.