TOKYO — Japan recorded 705,809 births in 2025, marking a 2.1% decline from 2024 and the 10th consecutive year of falling births, according to preliminary data from the Ministry of Health. The figures include births to Japanese nationals in Japan, foreign births within the country, and children born to Japanese citizens overseas.
The declining birthrate exacerbates Japan’s longstanding demographic challenges, contributing to labour shortages, a shrinking workforce, and rising social security costs. Japan already carries the highest debt-to-GDP ratio among major economies, and fewer workers paying taxes is straining public finances further.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first female premier, has called the trend a “quiet state of emergency” that threatens the nation’s vitality. Successive leaders have pledged policies to boost the birthrate, but results have been limited.
While increasing immigration could help offset population decline and labour gaps, Takaichi has resisted such measures under pressure from the right-wing Sanseito Party, advocating stricter immigration policies instead. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which holds a two-thirds majority following February elections, faces mounting pressure to address Japan’s demographic and economic challenges.
