Japan's child population falls for 41st year, record low amid pandemic

Japan's estimated child population fell for the 41st straight year to a record low, government data showed yesterday, as women are believed to have refrained from having children due to the expanding coronavirus pandemic.

The number of children aged 14 or younger, including foreigners, stood at 14.65 million as of April 1, down about 250,000 from a year earlier and the lowest figure since 1950 when comparable data became available, according to the data released by the internal affairs ministry.

The ratio of children to Japan's overall population also fell to a record low of 11.7 per cent, down 0.1 percentage point, the 48th straight year of decline.

Japan has the lowest such ratio among the 35 countries with a population of over 40 million, falling below Italy's 12.9 per cent and South Korea's 11.9 per cent, according to the UN Demographic Yearbook.

By gender, boys accounted for 7.51 million of the total while girls made up 7.15 million, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications data.

There were 3.23 million children between 12 and 14, compared with 2.51 million aged up to 2, reflecting the trend that the number falls as they become younger.

As of October 1, all 47 of Japan's prefectures saw a decline in child population from the previous year, for the first time since 1999.

The southern prefecture of Okinawa had the highest ratio of children in its overall population at 16.5 per cent, while Akita in the country's northeast logged the lowest at 9.5 per cent.

The child population in Japan peaked in 1954 at 29.89 million. The number briefly picked up around the early 1970s but has continued to fall since 1982.