Fertility in Japan declined for the seventh consecutive year in 2022, recording an all-time low announced today, Friday, by the Ministry of Health, a development that strengthens demographic crisis who lives in the country.

The fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime, was 1.2565 compared to the previous record low of 1.2601 children per woman in 20015 and 2.07 is considered necessary to maintain a stable population.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reversed the declining birth rate in the country a top priority for his government, which, despite its high debt, plans to set aside a fund of 3.5 trillion yen (about $25 billion) for child protection and other parental support measures.

“Young people will start to decline sharply in the 2030s. The period up to this point is our last chance to reverse this trend of declining birth rates,” he noted a few days ago during a visit to a kindergarten.

The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated demographic problems in Japan, where fewer marriages have meant fewer births in recent years, and Covid-19 has partly contributed to more deaths than an aging population.

The number of births in the Land of the Rising Sun last year fell by 5% (or 770,747 births), a new record low, while the number of deaths rose by 9% to a record 1.57 million. More than 47,000 people have died as a result of the coronavirus pandemic .

But in addition to falling birth rates, Japan also has to deal with an aging population and a shrinking workforce.

Currently, 28% of its population is over 65 years old, and the average age in the country is 49 years old.

With these data, Japan already stands out as a country with the oldest population in the world.

Source: Reuters.