TOKYO - The number of babies born in Japan to Japanese nationals in 2025 fell to a record low of 671,236, while the country's total fertility rate -- the average number of children a woman is estimated to have in her lifetime -- also dropped to a new low, government data showed Wednesday.
Births fell by 2.2 percent, or 14,937, from the previous year, and the fertility rate edged down 0.01 percentage point to 1.14, both declining for the 10th straight year. However, the rate slowed compared to recent trends, according to data released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The slower pace of decline in the number of newborns may be attributable to the stable population of 25 to 35-year-olds who were born around the 1990s, although urgent measures are necessary to put a halt to the country's falling birthrate.
The number of marriages, a key factor influencing future birth trends, grew for the second consecutive year to 489,119, with the average age of men tying the knot at 31.0 and 29.7 for women, both down from the previous year.
Just four of the country's 47 prefectures logged an increase in the number of babies born. Tokyo, Toyama and Ishikawa saw a growth for the first time in 10 years, while Kagawa was up for the first time in four.
By prefecture, the fertility rates were the highest in Okinawa at 1.52, followed by 1.46 in Miyazaki and 1.45 in Fukui. It was the lowest in Tokyo at 0.96, followed by Hokkaido and Miyagi at 1.00.
Meanwhile, a total of 1,589,489 deaths were reported, down for the first time in five years, according to the data, likely due to factors such as a decline in deaths by COVID-19.
Deaths outnumbered births by 918,253, marking the 19th consecutive year of natural decline in the population.
The number of births plunged to around 686,000 in 2024, slipping below the 700,000 threshold for the first time since records began in 1899.
The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research had projected in 2023 that the number of births in 2025 would hit around 749,000.
