Japan's Birth Rate Hits New Low, Government Announces Plan to Spend Billions on Child Care

Japan's birth rate has reached a new low, with the fertility rate falling to 1.2565 in 2022, according to the country's health ministry.

This is the seventh consecutive year that the birth rate has declined, and it is far below the rate of 2.07 necessary to maintain a stable population.

The prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has made reversing the country's declining birth rate a top priority, and his government has plans to spend 3.5 trillion yen ($25 billion) per year on child care and other measures to support parents.

The pandemic has exacerbated Japan's demographic challenges, with fewer marriages and deaths due to COVID-19 contributing to the decline in births.

The number of newborns in Japan fell by 5% to a new low of 770,747 in 2022, while the number of deaths increased by 9% to a record 1.57 million, with more than 47,000 deaths due to COVID-19.