Japan records first increase in first-half births in 11 years
Marriages rose and divorces declined in Japan in the first six months, while the gap between 778,982 deaths and births produced a natural decrease of 436,914.
- Japan's preliminary birth count for the first half of the year rose by 0.8% to 342,068, the first such increase in 11 years.
- The rise in births may be linked to an increase in marriages during 2024 and 2025.
- Despite the increase, the six-month birth total remained below 400,000 for the fifth consecutive year.
- The preliminary data includes births to foreign nationals in Japan and to Japanese nationals living overseas, with revised figures to be released later.
Japan’s preliminary birth count for January–June reached 342,068, an increase of 2,788, or 0.8%, from the same period a year earlier.
Figures released by the health ministry on Friday (August 28) showed that a first-half rise had not been recorded in 11 years, suggesting the rapid decline could be nearing an end.
The upward movement may reflect increases in marriages during 2024 and 2025.
In the latest six-month period, marriages numbered 238,979, up 418, while divorces fell by 3,578 to 90,177.
Even with the increase, births remained below 400,000 for a fifth consecutive year.
Deaths over the same period totalled 778,982, exceeding births by 436,914—the natural decrease in the population.
The preliminary statistics include births to foreign nationals in Japan and births to Japanese nationals living overseas.
Revised data, to be published later, will count only births to Japanese nationals residing in Japan.
Japan’s annual birth numbers have been trending down since 1975, dropping below one million in 2016 and below 700,000 in 2024.
Figures published in June placed births to Japanese nationals living in Japan at 671,236 in 2025, the lowest on record for a 10th successive year.
The reduction was 2.2%, however, smaller than the decreases of around 5% seen since 2022.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
