Japan loses almost 1 million inhabitants in a year, the largest decrease in population in more than half a century

Japanese woman — Photo foot, People over 65 now represent almost 30% of the population of Japan.

- Author, Writing
- Author's title, BBC News World
7 August 2025, 21:26 gmt

Updated 43 minutes

Last year almost one million more deaths were recorded in Japan than births, which caused the greatest annual population decrease in the Asian nation since government statistics began in 1968.

The Japanese prime minister, Shigeru Ihiba, has described the demographic crisis of his country for the aging of the population and low birth rate as a “silent emergency”, promising family favorable policies, such as free nurseries and more flexible work schedules.

However, efforts to reverse the fall in birth rates among Japanese women have had little impact so far.

New data published on Wednesday by the Ministry of Interior and Communications show that the number of Japanese citizens was reduced by 908,574 in 2024.

Japan registered 686,061 births, the lowest figure since the records began in 1899, while almost 1.6 million people died, which means that for each baby that was born, more than two people died.

This marks the sixteenth consecutive year of population decline, with the pressure that this exerts on the pension and health systems of the country.

A woman walks through the streets of a city in Japan, loading a small baby who wears a pink whole dress and a strawberry hat. — Photo foot, The fertility rate in Japan has been low since the 1970s.

Immigration

The number of foreign residents in Japan reached a record of 3.6 million on January 1, 2025, which represents almost 3% of the country's population.

The government has provisionally hosted to foreign labor by launching a visa for digital nomads and training initiatives, but immigration remains politically conflictive in this mostly conservative country.

The total population of the country decreased 0.44% from 2023 to approximately 124.3 million at the beginning of the year.

People over 65 now represent almost 30% of the population, the second highest proportion in the world after Monaco, according to the World Bank. The population of working age, defined as those between 15 and 64 years, has decreased to approximately 60%.

A growing number of villages and villages are emptying, with almost four million households abandoned in the last two decades, according to government data published last year.

The Government has been trying to increase birth rates with incentives ranging from housing subsidies to paid perental permits. However, deeply entrenched cultural and economic barriers persist.

The high cost of living, stagnant salaries and a rigid work culture deterring many young people from forming a family. Women, in particular, face entrenched gender roles that often leave them with limited support as main caregivers.

The fertility rate in Japan (the average number of children born from a woman throughout her life) has been low since the 1970s.