Japan’s Birthrate Falls to 1.43

June 2, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman is expected to give birth to in her lifetime, fell 0.01 point in 2017 from the previous year to 1.43, declining for the second straight year, government data showed on Friday.

The number of newborns fell by 30,918 to a record low of 946,060, staying below one million for the second straight year, according to the health ministry data.

The ministry expects that the downward trend in the newborn population will continue for the time being, partly because the number of women aged 25-39 is seen falling.

The number of deaths rose by 32,685 to a post-World War II high of 1,340,433, because of the graying of society.

The natural population decrease, or the number of deaths minus that of newborns, came to a record 394,373.

The fertility rate was the highest for women aged 30 to 34.

The rate declined for those aged 15-34 and rose for those aged 35-49, showing that women tend to have babies at older ages.

By prefecture, Okinawa posted the highest birthrate, at 1.94, followed by Miyazaki, at 1.73, and Shimane, at 1.72. Tokyo posted the lowest rate, at 1.21. The rate was also low for Hokkaido, at 1.29, and for Miyagi and Kyoto, at 1.31.

Deaths outpaced newborns for the first time in post-World War II Japan in 2005, with the pace of natural population decrease accelerating for the 11th straight year in 2017.

In 2017, deaths exceeded newborns in all prefectures except Okinawa.

The most common cause of death was cancer, responsible for 27.8 pct of total deaths. Heart diseases accounted for 15.2 pct and blood vessel diseases of the brain for 8.2 pct.

The number of newly wed couples came to a post-World War II low of 606,863. The average age for first marriage stood at 31.1 for men and 29.4 for women.

The average age of women having their first babies came to 30.7. Jiji Press