The number of newborns in Japan is decreasing faster than projected, with the number of annual births falling to a record low last year, according to government data released Wednesday.

The Health Ministry said 686,061 babies were born in Japan in 2024, a drop of 5.7 per cent from the previous year and the first time the number of newborns has fallen below 700,000 since records began in 1899.

The decline comes about 15 years faster than the government's prediction. Last year's figure is about one-quarter of the peak of 2.7 million births in 1949 during the postwar baby boom.

Does anyone still want kids? Families are shrinking as people have fewer children — or none at all

The data in a country with a rapidly aging and shrinking population adds to concern about the sustainability of the

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