Last year, Japan’s population decreased by half a million, emphasizing the problems of raising the country in the fight against lack of work and financing its social insurance system with the settlement of the tax base.
The total population decreased by 550,000 compared to the previous year to 123.8 million in 2024, extending a series of decline to 14 years, according todataAs of October 2024, published on Monday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The number of Japanese citizens only decreased by 898,000, the most steep fall since the comparable records began in 1950.
The data serve as another reminder of the gloomy demographic prognosis of Japan, causing anxiety about the stability of the social protection system as the number of participants is reduced. Number of people between the ages of 15 to 64 – the core of labor – pearl The debt ratio to GDP Among the developed economies.
The data also shows that the child’s population of Japan decreased by 343,000 to 13.8 million, or a record 11.2% of the total. This drop followsNew historical lowEnhancing problems about the long -term future of the domestic industry against the background of reducing the supply of new workers.
The unemployment rate in Japan is 2.4%, the lowest among the OECD countries, and remained below 3%for four years. By 2040, according to the results, the labor deficit is threatened with 11 million, reportsestimateAt the Works Recruit Institute.
Partly compensating for the total lack of population, the number of foreign residents increased for the third year in a row, increasing by 342,000 compared to a year earlier, the latest data shows.
Japan’s population reflects broader global patterns. South KoreaFertilities coefficientFor the first time in nine years, it was noted for a little over nine years, but only 0.75, it remains much lower than the replacement level. In France,drop of birthaccelerated in 2023 to the fastest pace for half a century and ChinaThe population has shrunkThree years in a row.
Originally this story was presented on Fortune.com
https://fortune.com/img-assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/GettyImages-2208974201-e1744695722718.jpg?resize=1200,600
2025-04-15 05:44:00
Erica Yokoyama, Bloomberg
