Japan's population has been declining since the early 90s, certainly not since yesterday.
Births are struggling, deaths are inexorable, there are not enough young workers to support the elderly, who often extend their working age relying on technology.
2021 sends a terrifying message
Last year in Japan they were born alone 811.604 children, almost 30.000 fewer than in 2020. On the other hand, deaths have reached 1,44 million: this is the highest number since the Second World War. The result? Emblematic: Japan's population shrank by nearly 630.000 people in just one year.
The alarm is raised from the Japan Today newspaper and other sites which report data from the Japanese Ministry of Health.
Births and deaths in Japan, catastrophic picture
According to the Ministry of Health, which has been collecting data since 1899, it is estimated that the average number of children a woman will have in her life has decreased by 0,03 points in a year, reaching 1,30. The number of marriages also fell by nearly 25.000, marking the lowest post-war result.
Possible causes? The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare attributed the decline in newborns to several factors such as increased economic insecurity or uncertainty about the future, allegedly caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
What to do?
The figures of the "baby boom" which in 1973 brought over 2 million new babies as gifts are very far away: today, in the context of a world population that will shrink and reshape in this century, Japan is a nation that is literally falling.
This is a demographic crisis with far-reaching implications, which public and private initiatives are trying to tackle. The government has introduced aministry of solitude ' to cope with suicides and bring people closer, and even a 'state' dating service. The efforts, so far, have not had any effect: the country's social assistance system is already in severe crisis.
It is easy to expect new initiatives to reverse the trend, and prevent an entire country from making harakiri.
