Feb 25 (NHK) - The number of babies born in Japan last year hit a record low. The health ministry says preliminary figures show that 842,897 babies were born in 2021.
The figure is down 3.4 percent from the previous year and the lowest since record-keeping began in 1899.
The number of births has now shrunk for six straight years.
Meanwhile, the ministry says 1,452,289 people died in Japan last year, up more than 67,000 from 2020, and the most since the end of World War Two.
As a result, Japan's population shrank by 609,392, exceeding the previous year's decline by more than 97,000.
The number of marriages was 514,242. That's down more than 23,000 from the year before and a postwar low.
Health ministry officials say some people may have chosen not to get pregnant due to concern over the coronavirus when the pandemic began in 2020. They say the spread of infections may have affected the number of deaths.
Source: ANNnewsCH
