Babies Born in Japan Getting Less, Lowest Record Again in 2025

Japan has again received bad news from the demographic table. The number of babies born to Japanese citizens in 2025 fell to a record low, while the fertility rate also fell to its lowest point.

According to a Kyodo News report quoted Wednesday, June 3, Japanese government data released Wednesday showed the number of births was only 671,236 babies. The figure fell 2.2 percent, or 14,937 babies less than the previous year.

Total fertility rate also fell slightly to 1.14. Total fertility rate is an estimate of the average number of children a woman will have over her lifetime.

Japan's birth rate and fertility rate have both fallen for 10 consecutive years. The difference is that the rate of decline in 2025 is said to be slower than the trend in recent years.

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare assessed that the slowdown was likely related to the relatively stable number of residents aged 25 to 35 years. This group is the generation born around the 1990s.

But the problem is not over. Japan still needs quick steps to hold down the birth rate. Because the number of babies born is still far from enough to replace the aging and dying population.

There are some positive signals from marriage data. The number of marriages rose for the second consecutive year to 489,119. The average age of marriage also fell, namely 31 years for men and 29.7 years for women.

Marriage is an important indicator because in Japan the birth trend is still very much related to the number of married couples.

Even so, the birth rate increase occurred in only four of 47 prefectures. Tokyo, Toyama, and Ishikawa recorded the first increase in 10 years. Kagawa went up for the first time in four years.

In terms of fertility rates, Okinawa is the highest with 1.52. After that, Miyazaki 1.46 and Fukui 1.45. Tokyo is in the lowest position with 0.96, followed by Hokkaido and Miyagi with 1.00 each.

Kyodo News reported that the number of deaths still far exceeds births. In 2025, deaths in Japan reached 1,589,489 people. This figure fell for the first time in five years, possibly because COVID-19 deaths decreased.

But the gap is still wide. The number of deaths is 918,253 more than births. This makes Japan experience a natural population decline for 19 consecutive years.

In 2024, the number of Japanese births has plummeted to around 686,000 babies. At that time, the birth rate fell below 700,000 for the first time since records began in 1899.

What makes the 2025 data feel even more shocking, the projection was originally higher. The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research in 2023 estimates that births in 2025 can still reach around 749,000 babies.

This means that Japan's population crisis is progressing faster than expected. This is not just about babies being born less and less. This concerns the workforce, pension costs, health services, and the future of the country's economy