ALBAWABA – The citizen population of Japan shrunk across all of the country’s regions for the first time in 2022, official data reported Wednesday.
Foreign residents, on the other hand, hit a new record, rising by about 300,000 to almost 3 million according to Bloomberg.
The population of Japan dropped by 800,000 people to 122.4 million nationals, over the year to January 1, 2023, data from a government study showed.
Overall, the decline accounts for 0.6 percent of the country’s citizen population and according to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, this is a crisis that threats the country’s ability to function.
The overall population shrank by 0.4 percent.
More so, the data, based on local government residents’ records, released Wednesday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, shows the decline spans all 47 of the country’s regions.
Kishida has promised policies “on a different dimension” in a bid to seize what he dubbed as Japan’s “last chance” to prop up dwindling birth rates.
An aging and shrinking population means labor shortages and fewer taxpayers to support the growing ranks of the elderly, Bloomberg explained.
“The situation is dire and proves government policies to halt the declining birth rate have fallen short,” Hideo Kumano, an economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute, told the New York-based news agency.
“The data shows there’s a limit on what can be achieved by easing the burden of raising kids with subsidies. What’s important is to secure employment opportunities in the regions, too,” he added.
The population of Japanese nationals has been falling continuously for 14 years, but this is the first time the southern prefecture of Okinawa posts a decline in birth rates. Historically, the region is known for its high birth rate, among other things.
Last year, the number of children born nationwide fell under 800,000 for the first time since records began in 1899, the news agency reported.
Kishida’s promised to spend about $24.8 billion on measures to increase the birth rate, without fully explaining how this will be funded.
Among the policies is an expansion of cash handouts to families with children, regardless of parental income, Bloomberg highlighted.
Bloomberg’s experts have warned the policy package fails to tackle the root causes of the declining birth rate, such as a lack of stable job prospects.
“If the situation remains the same, Japan will fall into a negative spiral of letting its economic size shrink over the long-term,” Kumano said.
“In the short-term, the problem is shortages of labor. Japan will have to raise wages for foreign workers so that they will be encouraged to come here despite the weak yen,” he said.
