Japan experienced a population decrease of half a million last year, highlighting the nation’s growing difficulties in addressing labor shortages and sustaining its social security system with a diminishing tax base.
The total population reduced by 550,000 from the previous year, reaching 123.8 million in 2024, continuing a 14-year trend of declining numbers, according to data from October 2024 released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The number of Japanese nationals alone decreased by 898,000, marking the steepest reduction since comparable records began in 1950.
This data underscores Japan’s continuing demographic challenges, raising concerns about the sustainability of its social welfare system as the number of contributors falls. The population aged 15 to 64, the core labor force, declined by 224,000 to 73.7 million, exacerbating fiscal pressure on a nation already burdened with the highest debt-to-GDP ratio among developed countries.
The statistics also showed a decline in Japan’s child population by 343,000 to 13.8 million, representing a record-low 11.2% of the total. This drop follows labor ministry figures released in February that indicated births fell to a new historic low, heightening worries about the long-term prospects of domestic industries with a shrinking pool of new workers.
Japan’s unemployment rate stands at 2.4%, the lowest among OECD countries, and has remained below 3% for four years. Projections by the Recruit Works Institute suggest that by 2040, Japan could face a labor shortage of 11 million.
Partially mitigating the overall population decline, the number of foreign residents increased for the third consecutive year, rising by 342,000 from the previous year, the latest data indicates.
Japan’s population challenges reflect broader global trends. South Korea’s fertility rate increased slightly last year for the first time in nine years but remains significantly below the replacement level at 0.75. In France, the decline in births accelerated in 2023 at the fastest rate in 50 years, while China’s population has been decreasing for three consecutive years.
