The fertility rate of a country is the average number of children that women from that country will have throughout their reproductive years. From 1800 until 1865, Japan's fertility rate grew quite gradually, from 4.1 children per woman, to 4.8. From this point the fertility rate drops to 3.6 over the next ten years, as Japan became more industrialized. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Japan's fertility rate grew again, and reached it's highest recorded point in the early 1920s, where it was 5.4 children per woman. Since this point it has been gradually decreasing until now, although it did experience slight increases after the Second World War, and in the early 1970s. In recent decades Japan's population has aged extensively, and today, Japan has the second oldest population and second highest life expectancy in the world (after Monaco). In contrast to this, Japan has a very low birth rate, and it's fertility rate is expected to fall below 1.4 children per woman in 2020.

In Japan, the crude birth rate in 1800 was 29.6 live births per thousand people, meaning that approximately three percent of the population had been born in that year. From 1800 to 1865, Japan's crude birth rate rose gradually to around 34 births per thousand people, before dropping relatively sharply to 25 over the next ten years. This was a time of great social and economic reform in Japan, as the country became increasingly urbanized and industrialized. Japan's crude birth rate reached it's highest recorded point in the early 1920s, where the number was almost 35 births per thousand people, and since then it has been decreasing gradually. There were two times in the twentieth century where Japan's crude birth rate increased, after the Second World War, and during the period of economic prosperity in the 1960s and 70s. Since 1975, Japan's crude birth rate has gradually decreased to it's lowest recorded rate ever, and is expected to be at just 7.5 births per thousand people in 2020, making it the second lowest in the world (behind Monaco).

In 2022, there were around 6.3 live births per 1,000 inhabitants in Japan, down from about 6.6 in the previous year. The total number of live births in the nation amounted to approximately 770.8 thousand in 2022.

Japan’s aging society Directly after the end of WWII, the live birth rate in Japan was over 30 per 1,000 of population. The rate has constantly dropped in the last decades after the second baby boom (between 1971 and 1974). Meanwhile, the life expectancy of the Japanese people has continued to increase, reaching about 87.7 years for women and 81.7 years for men in 2020. Due to the combination of both factors, Japan has developed into the most rapidly aging society in the world. Almost 30 percent of Japan’s population is currently aged 65 years and older, falling into the “super-aged nation” defined by international institutions and organizations. 

Decreasing number of marriages In Japan, the number of births outside of marriage is small. The Japanese government, therefore, considers the decreasing number of marriages as the driving factor behind the country’s fertility decline. As of 2022, the number of marriages per 1,000 Japanese citizens was 4.1, less than half compared to that in the early 1970s. The average age of first marriage has also risen for both men and women in recent years. This trend can be partially attributed to the increasing number of employed and therefore financially and socially independent women in the last two decades. The employment rate of women in Japan exceeded 50 percent for the first time in history in 2018.

Japan JP: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data was reported at 7.800 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 8.000 Ratio for 2015. Japan JP: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 10.800 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 19.400 Ratio in 1973 and a record low of 7.800 Ratio in 2016. Japan JP: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Crude birth rate indicates the number of live births occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

Between 1939 and 1950, Japan's annual fertility rate fluctuated between 3.1 and 4.4 births per woman, before spiking to 4.6 in 1947. This was the highest of the Axis powers listed, as European figures were generally much lower at this point in history. The increase in fertility that followed the Second World War was part of the global baby boom of the mid-twentieth century.

This line chart displays birth rate (per 1,000 people) by date and is filtered where the country is Japan. The data is about countries per year.

Japan IPSS: Population: Projection: Medium Mortality: High Birth Rate data was reported at 94,903.610 Person th in 2065. This records a decrease from the previous number of 95,688.439 Person th for 2064. Japan IPSS: Population: Projection: Medium Mortality: High Birth Rate data is updated yearly, averaging 113,738.979 Person th from Dec 2015 (Median) to 2065, with 51 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 127,094.745 Person th in 2015 and a record low of 94,903.610 Person th in 2065. Japan IPSS: Population: Projection: Medium Mortality: High Birth Rate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.G004: Population: Projection: National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

For most of the past two centuries, falling birth rates have been associated with societal progress. During the demographic transition, where pre-industrial societies modernize in terms of fertility and mortality, falling death rates, especially among infants and children, are the first major change. In response, as more children survive into adulthood, women have fewer children as the need to compensate for child mortality declines. This transition has happened at different times across the world and is an ongoing process, with early industrial countries being the first to transition, and Sub-Saharan African countries being the most recent to do so. Additionally, some Asian countries (particularly China through government policy) have gone through their demographic transitions at a much faster pace than those deemed more developed. Today, in countries such as Japan, Italy, and Germany, birth rates have fallen well below death rates; this is no longer considered a positive demographic trend, as it leads to natural population decline, and may create an over-aged population that could place a burden on healthcare systems.

This dataset is about countries in Japan per year, featuring 3 columns: country, date, and fertility rate. The preview is ordered by date (descending).

This dataset is about countries per year and is filtered where the country includes Japan, featuring 5 columns: agricultural land, alternative and nuclear energy, armed forces personnel, birth rate, and forest area. The preview is ordered by date (descending).

Japan IPSS: Population: Projection: Low Mortality: High Birth Rate data was reported at 96,570.605 Person th in 2065. This records a decrease from the previous number of 97,346.029 Person th for 2064. Japan IPSS: Population: Projection: Low Mortality: High Birth Rate data is updated yearly, averaging 115,105.879 Person th from Dec 2015 (Median) to 2065, with 51 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 127,094.745 Person th in 2015 and a record low of 96,570.605 Person th in 2065. Japan IPSS: Population: Projection: Low Mortality: High Birth Rate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.G004: Population: Projection: National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

Japan IPSS: Population: Projection: Low Mortality: Low Birth Rate data was reported at 83,781.534 Person th in 2065. This records a decrease from the previous number of 84,877.121 Person th for 2064. Japan IPSS: Population: Projection: Low Mortality: Low Birth Rate data is updated yearly, averaging 109,693.156 Person th from Dec 2015 (Median) to 2065, with 51 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 127,094.745 Person th in 2015 and a record low of 83,781.534 Person th in 2065. Japan IPSS: Population: Projection: Low Mortality: Low Birth Rate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.G004: Population: Projection: National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

Japan IPSS: Population: Projection: Medium Mortality: Medium Birth Rate data was reported at 88,076.506 Person th in 2065. This records a decrease from the previous number of 89,036.383 Person th for 2064. Japan IPSS: Population: Projection: Medium Mortality: Medium Birth Rate data is updated yearly, averaging 110,918.554 Person th from Dec 2015 (Median) to 2065, with 51 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 127,094.745 Person th in 2015 and a record low of 88,076.506 Person th in 2065. Japan IPSS: Population: Projection: Medium Mortality: Medium Birth Rate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.G004: Population: Projection: National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

Chart and table of the Japan infant mortality rate from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

In 2023, 727,288 live births were recorded in Japan, continuing the downward trend of the last decade. In the same year, the number of deaths of newborns amounted to 600.

The statistic shows the 20 countries with the lowest fertility rates in 2024. All figures are estimates. In 2024, the fertility rate in Taiwan was estimated to be at 1.11 children per woman, making it the lowest fertility rate worldwide. Fertility rate The fertility rate is the average number of children born per woman of child-bearing age in a country. Usually, a woman aged between 15 and 45 is considered to be in her child-bearing years. The fertility rate of a country provides an insight into its economic state, as well as the level of health and education of its population. Developing countries usually have a higher fertility rate due to lack of access to birth control and contraception, and to women usually foregoing a higher education, or even any education at all, in favor of taking care of housework. Many families in poorer countries also need their children to help provide for the family by starting to work early and/or as caretakers for their parents in old age. In developed countries, fertility rates and birth rates are usually much lower, as birth control is easier to obtain and women often choose a career before becoming a mother. Additionally, if the number of women of child-bearing age declines, so does the fertility rate of a country. As can be seen above, countries like Hong Kong are a good example for women leaving the patriarchal structures and focusing on their own career instead of becoming a mother at a young age, causing a decline of the country’s fertility rate. A look at the fertility rate per woman worldwide by income group also shows that women with a low income tend to have more children than those with a high income. The United States are neither among the countries with the lowest, nor among those with the highest fertility rate, by the way. At 2.08 children per woman, the fertility rate in the US has been continuously slightly below the global average of about 2.4 children per woman over the last decade.

In 1800, the population of Japan was just over 30 million, a figure which would grow by just two million in the first half of the 19th century. However, with the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate and the restoration of the emperor in the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan would begin transforming from an isolated feudal island, to a modernized empire built on Western models. The Meiji period would see a rapid rise in the population of Japan, as industrialization and advancements in healthcare lead to a significant reduction in child mortality rates, while the creation overseas colonies would lead to a strong economic boom. However, this growth would slow beginning in 1937, as Japan entered a prolonged war with the Republic of China, which later grew into a major theater of the Second World War. The war was eventually brought to Japan's home front, with the escalation of Allied air raids on Japanese urban centers from 1944 onwards (Tokyo was the most-bombed city of the Second World War). By the war's end in 1945 and the subsequent occupation of the island by the Allied military, Japan had suffered over two and a half million military fatalities, and over one million civilian deaths.

The population figures of Japan were quick to recover, as the post-war “economic miracle” would see an unprecedented expansion of the Japanese economy, and would lead to the country becoming one of the first fully industrialized nations in East Asia. As living standards rose, the population of Japan would increase from 77 million in 1945, to over 127 million by the end of the century. However, growth would begin to slow in the late 1980s, as birth rates and migration rates fell, and Japan eventually grew to have one of the oldest populations in the world. The population would peak in 2008 at just over 128 million, but has consistently fallen each year since then, as the fertility rate of the country remains below replacement level (despite government initiatives to counter this) and the country's immigrant population remains relatively stable. The population of Japan is expected to continue its decline in the coming years, and in 2020, it is estimated that approximately 126 million people inhabit the island country.

Text A, Representation theorem for a right eigenvector of an irreducible non-negative matrix. Text B, Theorem for infinite series expansion of characteristic equation. Text C, Original definition of type-reproduction number. Text D, Extension theorem of type-reproduction number. (ZIP)

This dataset is about countries per year and is filtered where the country includes Japan, featuring 5 columns: agricultural land, alternative and nuclear energy, armed forces personnel, birth rate, and capital city. The preview is ordered by date (descending).

Japan JP: Completeness of Birth Registration: Female data was reported at 100.000 % in 2017. Japan JP: Completeness of Birth Registration: Female data is updated yearly, averaging 100.000 % from Dec 2017 (Median) to 2017, with 1 observations. Japan JP: Completeness of Birth Registration: Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Completeness of birth registration is the percentage of children under age 5 whose births were registered at the time of the survey. The numerator of completeness of birth registration includes children whose birth certificate was seen by the interviewer or whose mother or caretaker says the birth has been registered.; ; UNICEF's State of the World's Children based mostly on household surveys and ministry of health data.; ;