Japan fertility rate drops to another record low

TOKYO: Japan’s fertility rate declined again in 2025 to a new record low, according to official data released on Wednesday, highlighting the country’s deepening demographic strain.

Government figures showed the total fertility rate — the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime — slipped to 1.14, down 0.01 from the previous year. It was the 10th consecutive annual fall.

The number of babies born in Japan also dropped, falling by nearly 15,000 to a little over 670,000. The latest figure is the lowest since comparable records began in 1899. Japan is already grappling with one of the lowest birth rates in the world, along with a shrinking and ageing population that has contributed to labour shortages, rising social security costs and a narrower tax base.

The data came after preliminary figures issued in February showed around 706,000 births, but those numbers included non-Japanese babies born in Japan as well as Japanese citizens born overseas. Local media said the decline in births is running as much as 15 years ahead of projections by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. NHK reported that the institute had estimated in 2023 that annual births would not fall below 680,000 until 2040.