Japan Recorded Record Low Births, Biggest Ever Population Drop in 2021

Children walk on their way back from school in Tokyo, Japan, on June 30, 2006. Toshiyuki Aizawa/Reuters

TOKYO—Japan recorded a record low number of births in 2021, prompting the biggest ever natural decline in the population, government data showed on Friday.

There were 811,604 births last year, the fewest in health ministry data going back to 1899. Deaths climbed to 1,439,809, leading to an overall drop of 628,205 in the population.