Topic Reading-Vol.2825-1/5/2020
0422-27-5366
〒180-0006 東京都武蔵野市中町2-3-5 IIHA武蔵野1階
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Topic Reading-Vol.2825-1/5/2020
0422-27-5366
〒180-0006 東京都武蔵野市中町2-3-5 IIHA武蔵野1階
電話受付/月〜金 9:00-18:00
Topic Reading-Vol.2825-1/5/2020
Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Japan’s birth rate hits another record low in 2019
In Japan, a few years after WWII ended, over 2.5 million babies were born each year. The period is called the first baby boom. Decades later, that newborn generation produced a great number of offspring, as many as two million a year for a few years. It was called the second baby boom. However, those second baby boomers weren’t so enthusiastic about producing a new generation. The number of Japan’s newborn babies has been in consistent decline for the last 45 years due to the declining fertility rate. As the rate settled around 1.4 children per woman, the number of newborn babies went below one million mark in 2016 for the first time and dropping rapidly since then. About 979,000 babies were born in 2016, 946,000 in 2017, 912,000 in 2018, and in 2019, there were only 864,000 in 2019, a staggering five percent drop from the previous year!
In the meantime, over 1.3 million people died last year alone in the fast aging country. As a result, Japan lost over a half million population from the total of around 124 million. Since fewer babies are born from fewer mothers, people are living longer than any other country, and more people are dying of old age, Japan’s population is estimated to decline to below 100 million mark before 2015 and aging fast. This means that younger generations are going to have to support the elderly population for taxes, healthcare, pensions, and daily lives.
Who could have imagined that once rising Asia’s superstar nation is facing such a drastic population loss? Will the relatively isolated nation from foreign immigrants maintain its economy and workforce to sustain social infrastructures and welfare? Will they open the doors to welcome young immigrants? In rural areas, over 20% of the houses are unoccupied. There surely are rooms for more people and will be more.
Enjoy reading the article and watching the video and learn how serious Japan’s population decline is and will be.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/25/asia/japan-birthrate-hnk-intl/index.html
MEL School 三鷹
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