May 04 (Japan Times) - Japan’s estimated child population has fallen for the 41st straight year to a record low, government data showed Wednesday, with people believed to have refrained from having children due to the expanding coronavirus pandemic.
The number of children aged 14 or younger, including foreign nationals, stood at 14.65 million as of April 1 — down about 250,000 from a year earlier and the lowest figure since 1950 when comparable data became available, according to the data released by the internal affairs ministry.
The ratio of children to Japan’s overall population also fell to a record low of 11.7%, down 0.1 percentage point for the 48th straight year of decline.
Japan has the lowest such ratio among the 35 countries with a population of over 40 million, falling below Italy’s 12.9% and South Korea’s 11.9%, according to the U.N. Demographic Yearbook.
By gender, boys accounted for 7.51 million of the total while girls made up 7.15 million, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications data. ...continue reading
