Births in Japan Decline at Record Rate, Population Hits Historic Low

Japan’s population decline continued in 2018, with fewer than 1 million babies born for the third consecutive year.

Live births of Japanese nationals in Japan were estimated at 921,000, the lowest annual figure since records began in 1899, according to a health ministry survey released Friday.

The most deaths in any year since the end of World War II led to a record net population decline of about 448,000 people, 54,000 more than in 2017.

Japan is known as a "super-aged" nation. That means more than 20 percent of its population is older than 65. The country's total population stands at 124 million this year, but by 2065 it is expected to have dropped to about 88 million.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is working to stop the population from dropping below 100 million by 2060.

In 2017, the government announced a 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) spending package to expand free preschool for children aged 3 to 5 — and for children aged 2 and under from low-income families — and cut waiting times at day care centers.