Japan's fertility rate inches up to 21-year high
Nursery school children wash their hands before eating lunch in the western Japanese city of Moriyama, © Reuters
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's total fertility rate in 2015 rose 0.04 point from the previous year to a 21-year high of 1.46, aided by indications of economic recovery, the health ministry said Monday.
The figure, an estimate of the average number of children a woman will bear in her lifetime, was at its highest level since 1.50 in 1994. The rate has been recovering gradually since hitting a record low of 1.26 in 2005, although it declined in 2014.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, signs of economic recovery have encouraged an increase in births among those in their 30s, as well as those from the nation's second baby boom in the early 1970s who are now in their early 40s.
But with the population of women in their 20s and 30s on the decline, and the number of deaths expected to keep rising, "The trend of accelerating population decrease will continue," a ministry official said.
The figures suggest the government will have difficulty meeting its target of raising the fertility rate to 1.8 by the end of fiscal 2025.
A total of 1,005,656 babies were born in 2015, rising from the previous year for the first time since 2010.
The number of deaths rose to 1,290,428, the highest level since the end of World War II, resulting in a record natural population decline of 284,772 people.
Okinawa logged the highest fertility rate among Japan's 47 prefectures at 1.94 in 2015, while Tokyo recorded the lowest rate of 1.17.
