Japanese Child Population Declines for 43rd Consecutive Year

May 05, 2024 | News On Japan

TOKYO - Ahead of Children's Day, Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications released an estimate of the country's child population, revealing a decrease of 330,000 compared to the previous year. The population of children under 15 dropped for the 43rd consecutive year, reaching a record low since data collection began in 1950.

As of April 1st, the child population stood at 14.01 million, marking a new record low. The proportion of children in the total population also hit an all-time low at 11.3%.

Among prefectures, Okinawa had the highest proportion of children at 16.1%, followed by Shiga at 13.0%. In contrast, Akita had the lowest at 9.1%.

Child populations decreased in all prefectures, with only Tokyo and Kanagawa having over one million children.

Source: ANN

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