TOKYO, JAPAN – Japan is facing one of the most serious demographic challenges in its modern history as the country’s population continues to fall at a record pace. According to the latest population estimates and demographic reports, Japan’s population has declined to nearly 123 million in 2025, continuing a long-term trend of falling birth rates and a rapidly ageing society. The country has now recorded population decline for more than a decade, raising concerns about its future workforce, economy, and social systems.
Government statistics and international demographic data show that Japan’s population peaked at more than 128 million around 2010. Since then, the country has been losing population steadily every year due to fewer births, delayed marriages, rising living costs, and an ageing population. In 2025, estimates show the population has fallen to nearly 123.1 million people.
One of the biggest concerns is Japan’s declining birth rate. Reports show that births in the country have fallen to record lows, while deaths continue to rise because of the growing elderly population. Experts say many young Japanese couples are choosing to marry later, avoid having children, or focus more on career and financial stability due to economic pressures and changing lifestyles.
The demographic crisis is expected to create major economic and social challenges for Japan in the coming years. A shrinking population could lead to labour shortages, slower economic growth, increased pressure on healthcare systems, and a heavier financial burden on younger generations supporting elderly citizens. Rural towns in Japan are also experiencing depopulation, with many villages seeing schools close and communities shrinking rapidly.
Despite the concerns, Japan continues to explore solutions including childcare support, financial incentives for families, workplace reforms, and policies aimed at encouraging higher birth rates. However, experts believe reversing the demographic decline may take many years.
Japan remains one of the world’s most advanced economies, but its shrinking population is increasingly becoming one of the country’s biggest long-term national challenges.
WAM REPORTS: Japan’s population, including foreign residents, fell by a record 3.10 million, or 2.5 percent, from 2020 to 123,049,524 in 2025, according to the latest national census released on Friday.
The census, conducted every five years since 1920, showed that the total population declined for the third consecutive survey. It also revealed that 30.1 percent of the population was concentrated in the Tokyo metropolitan area as of 1st October, surpassing the 30 percent threshold for the first time.
Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications attributed the decline to the country’s graying population and the widening natural decrease, in which deaths outnumber births, Kyodo News reported.
“It was confirmed again that the population decline is advancing even further,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a press conference, pledging to “comprehensively promote various measures” to address the challenges of a falling population.
The ministry also said that the number of foreign residents was estimated at around 3.21 million, well above the record high of about 2.75 million in the finalised figures for the 2020 census.
According to UN population estimates for 2025, Japan is the world’s 12th most populous country and accounts for 1.5 percent of the global total.
NEWS COURTESY: WAM NEWS (www.wam.ae); Illustrative Image Used
