Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Japan's birth rate hits another record low in
2019
In Japan, a few years after WWII ended, over 2.5
million babies were born each year. The period is called the first baby boom. Decades
later, that newborn generation produced a great number of offspring, as many
as two million a year for a few years. It was called the second baby boom. However,
those second baby boomers weren’t so enthusiastic about producing a new
generation. The number of Japan’s newborn babies has been in consistent decline
for the last 45 years due to the declining fertility rate. As the rate settled
around 1.4 children per woman, the number of newborn babies went below one million mark in 2016 for the first time and dropping rapidly since then. About 979,000
babies were born in 2016, 946,000 in 2017, 912,000 in 2018, and in 2019, there
were only 864,000 in 2019, a staggering five percent drop from the previous
year!
In the meantime, over 1.3 million people died
last year alone in the fast aging country. As a result, Japan lost over a half
million population from the total of around 124 million. Since fewer babies are
born from fewer mothers, people are living longer than any other country, and more
people are dying of old age, Japan’s population is estimated to decline to
below 100 million mark before 2015 and aging fast. This means that younger
generations are going to have to support the elderly population for taxes, healthcare,
pensions, and daily lives.
Who could have imagined that once rising Asia’s
superstar nation is facing such a drastic population loss? Will the relatively
isolated nation from foreign immigrants maintain its economy and workforce to
sustain social infrastructures and welfare? Will they open the doors to welcome
young immigrants? In rural areas,
over 20% of the houses are unoccupied. There surely are rooms for more people
and will be more.
Enjoy reading the article and watching the
video and learn how serious Japan’s population decline is and will be.
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