Japan’s Population Drops Below 125 Mln, Down for 12th Year

According to government data released on Wednesday, Japan's population has experienced a continuous decline for 12 consecutive years, with a total decrease to 124.95 million in 2022. Marking the 12th consecutive year of decline.

Related:

Japan’s New Children and Families Agency Begins Operation

As of October, the most recent population estimates published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications indicate that the entire populace, encompassing both domestic and foreign inhabitants, experienced a decline of 0.44 percent, equating to 556,000 individuals, relative to the previous year.

According to an online report released by the ministry, the count of Japanese citizens, amounting to 122 million, has experienced a significant reduction of 750,000 individuals. The extent of this decline has been progressively increasing since 2011.

According to a report by Kyodo News, the depicted figure denotes the most considerable reduction observed since the inception of corresponding statistical records in the year 1950.

During a press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno articulated that the government has decided to accord the issue of declining birthrate in the nation with the utmost priority.

The most recent census reveals that the demographic of individuals aged below 15 amount to 14.5 million, thereby constituting a historic low of only 11.6% of the overall populace. In contraposition, the cohort of persons aged 65 or older has proportionally increased to approximately 36.23 million individuals in comparison to the preceding year, thereby occupying 29% of the entire population.

The data shows that 48.6% of the population was composed of males, exhibiting a downward trend for the fifteenth consecutive year, whereas the female population experienced a further diminution for the twelfth successive year, constituting 51.4% of the populace.

According to the available data, the sex ratio of the population was found to be 94.7, representing the ratio of males to females. The findings indicate that the female population notably outnumbered their male counterparts, with a variance of 3,431,000.