Why has Japan's birthrate been at a record low in 120 years?

Psychological fear of giving birth, not wanting to get married makes the number of babies in Japan only reached 900,000 this year, the lowest level in 120 years.

Statistics released by the state welfare agency released on December 24, the number of children born in Japan has decreased by 5.9% in 2019. The number of newborns reached the lowest level since 1899, when The government began to aggregate the data.

Experts say the low birth rate will put financial pressure on welfare and restrain economic development. Currently, government pension funds are burdening for a society with a rapidly aging population.

The number of children born in Japan has dropped to less than 900,000, 2019. (Image: AFP).

In 2019, Japan had 864,000 births, down 54,400 from last year. The decline in fertility is largely due to the "shy" mentality of women aged 25 to 39.

Yasushi Mineshima, spokesman for the National Institute for Social and Population Security Studies, said: "The birth rate in Japan is declining much faster than the official estimate."

The country's fertility rate began to decline in 1970, reaching its lowest level in 2005, then undergoing a rapid recovery and declining again in 2016.

Mr Mineshima believes that Japan's population crisis is largely due to the narrowing of the women of reproductive age . Many people postpone childbirth because they do not want to leave their careers behind. The average age of a mother when her first child is born has increased from 25.6 in 1970 to 30.7 in 2018.

Another reason for the sharp decline in birth rates in Japan is the desire of many young people to be single . Meanwhile, the traditional concept of Asia still makes many people discriminate against "unmarried, pregnant" women, leading to an increase in the number of people afraid to have children.

1. Astonishing UN estimates - by 2500 Japan will be empty