Tokyo, Japan

For the sixth year in a row, Japan has witnessed a further fall in its number of births. In 2021 the nation saw a 3.5 per cent fall from the previous year (2020). Last year, the nation just had 811,604 births which is the lowest level on record, as per data by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. This is the lowest number of births in the country's 123-year history; the country began keeping records in 1899, and the year 2021 saw the lowest numbers ever.

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Incidentally, if you were to look at news items for the nation's birth rates for the past few years, every year this record gets broken. Last year (2020) it was 840,832 births and this year a further 3.5 per cent fall to 811,604 is seen.

Also read | To meet labour crunch, aid an aging population Japan develops 'BEX' a goat-robot

The country's total fertility rate, which is the number of children a Japanese woman will have in her lifetime also fell by 0.30 points. This rate stands at 1.30 per woman.

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Japan's fertility rate has witnessed a steady decline since 1975 when it first fell below 2.0.

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In 2005 it reached its nadir - the lowest of 1.26. However, the next few years saw a gradual rise, with it reaching 1.45 in 2015. Since then, for six years now it has slid lower and lower.

Also read | Elon Musk says Japan would 'eventually cease to exist'. Here's what he meant by it

In recent years, the Coronavirus pandemic and a larger number of people choosing to stay single, get married later or not have offspring have meant that this downward trend has continued.

A few weeks back, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had also voiced concerns about Japan's falling birth rate, warning that Japan may soon "cease to exist" adding that it would be a great loss for the world.

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(With inputs from agencies)

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