Japan’s population is shrinking and graying at a record rate. At the beginning of the year, the archipelago had 125.9 million inhabitants, or 726,000 less than the previous year. This is the largest population decline recorded, said the Japanese Ministry of Interior.
This downward trend continues since Japan has since lost another 619,000 inhabitants to reach a population of 123.2 million islanders. The pandemic has also precipitated the departure of 107,000 foreigners.
The world’s third largest economy, which has seen its population decline for 13 years, recorded 1.4 million deaths last year, a record number, for only 810,000 births, down from the previous year.
Low birth rates combined with limited immigration have pushed up the average age in Japan far more than in any other industrialized country, resulting in thousands of empty or crumbling homes and schools forced to close.
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