According to Japanese official data, the Japanese population has decreased a record number – more than 900,000 people – in 2024, despite government efforts to try to relaunch the birth rate.
Last year, the number of Japanese fell from 908,574 people, or 0.75 %, to reach 120.65 million inhabitants.
A few months ago, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba qualified the situation of “silent emergency”, committing to put in place favorable measures for families, such as more flexible working hours and free child care, to try to reverse the trend.
The drop recorded in 2024 – The 16th consecutive – is the most important since the start of the statements in 1968, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said on Wednesday.
On the other hand, the number of foreign residents has reached its highest level since the start of recordings in 2013 with 3.67 million foreigners on January 1, 2025, or almost 3% of the total population of Japan.
This was established at 124,330,690 people, down 0.44 % compared to the previous year. Japan has the second oldest population in the world (median age 49.9 years) after Monaco (56.9 years), according to the World Bank.
By age group, Japanese people aged 65 and over represent 29.58 % of the population, while 15-64 year olds constitute 59.04 %, the two recording slight increases compared to 2023.
According to separate data published in June by the Ministry of Health, the number of births in Japan last year fell for the first time below the 700,000 mark.
The archipelago thus hosted 686,061 newborns in 2024 – 41,227 less than in 2023. It is the lowest figure since the start of the recordings in 1899.
