Japan's Population Shrinks by 530,000

Jul 25, 2024 | News On Japan

TOKYO - Japan's total population stood at 124.88 million as of January 1 this year, a decrease of over 530,000 from the previous year, further accelerating the trend of a declining birthrate and aging population.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Basic Resident Register, the number of Japanese citizens saw its largest drop to date, falling to 121,561,801, marking a decline for the 15th consecutive year since peaking in 2009.

Conversely, the number of foreign residents in Japan increased for the second consecutive year to 3,323,374, making up 2.7% of the total population.

Looking at age demographics, the population of Japanese aged 14 and under has been declining for the past 30 years, dropping to 14.1 million, less than 70% of the figure three decades ago. On the other hand, those aged 65 and older are nearing 36 million, more than doubling over the same period.

Despite the population decline, the number of households nationwide has increased by nearly 1%, reaching over 60.77 million.

This increase in households is due to a decrease in the average number of people per household to 2.05, highlighting the growing trend of single-person and small family households.

Source: ANN

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