TOKYO, Japan: The number of babies born in Japan fell to a record low of 720,988 in 2024 for a ninth consecutive year, the health ministry said late last week.

Births fell by 5 per cent compared to the previous year, despite efforts in 2023 by former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to encourage more people to have children. At the same time, Japan recorded 1.62 million deaths, meaning more than two people died for every new baby born.

In contrast, South Korea's birth rate increased for the first time in nine years in 2024, thanks to policies that encouraged young people to marry and start families. However, Japan has not yet seen any signs of improvement.

Economist Takumi Fujinami from the Japan Research Institute said one major reason for Japan's low birth rate is a decline in marriages, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although marriages increased slightly by 2.2 per cent to 499,999 in 2024, this came after steep declines, including a sharp 12.7 per cent drop in 2020. Fujinami warned that the impact could continue in 2025.

Unlike some Western countries, very few babies in Japan are born to unmarried parents, making marriage closely linked to birth rates.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba acknowledged that births were still falling but pointed out the increase in marriages. "The birth rate is still dropping, but more people are getting married. Since marriage and births are closely connected, we should also focus on this trend," he said.

Meanwhile, South Korea's fertility rate rose slightly from 0.72 in 2023 to 0.75 in 2024, offering some hope for improvement there. In Japan, the fertility rate—the average number of children a woman is expected to have—was 1.20 in 2023.

Fujinami cautioned that it is too soon to compare the two countries directly, but both nations need to improve job opportunities and gender equality to encourage young people to start families. Experts believe South Korea's small improvement came from better work-life balance, childcare support, housing assistance, and workplace encouragement for parenthood.