Rise in births to non-Japanese comes as politicians keep dodging the choice between economic decline and a more diverse population
This week brought encouraging news for Japan’s long battle to defuse its demographic timebomb: in 2024, the number of babies born to one sector of the population rose to a record of more than 22,000 – that’s about 3,000 more than the previous year and a 50% increase on a decade ago.
But none of the women who answered calls – invariably issued by conservative male politicians – to have more children were Japanese.
Despite the happy backdrop, the cries of babies born to women from China, Brazil, the Philippines and Vietnam reverberating around maternity wards was a reminder of the failure of successive governments to persuade Japanese couples to have bigger families.
Births among Japanese parents stood at 686,000 babies, 41,000 fewer than in 2023, according to the data, released in the same week as figures showing that Japan’s foreign population is edging towards 4 million (3.2%) – a share of the 124 million population that would have been unimaginable a decade ago.
