JAPAN POSTS RECORD LOW OF 840,000 NEWBORNS IN 2020

The number of babies born in Japan fell to a record low of 840,832 in 2020, a year when the nation was hit by the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed, Kyodo News reported.

The figure marked the lowest level since the health ministry started taking such surveys in 1899. It was down 24,407 from the previous year when the number dipped below 900,000 for the first time.

The data revealed that the shrinking and rapid aging of the nation's population is accelerating amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato expressed a sense of crisis over the all-time low number and stressed the importance of removing obstacles for bearing and raising children in society.

"The declining number of children is a problem that can shake the basis of our society and economy. It should be tackled as a matter of the highest priority," the government's top spokesman said at a press conference.

The average number of children a woman will bear in her lifetime declined 0.02 points from 2019 to 1.34, and the number of marriages decreased 73,517 to 525,490, the lowest in the post-World War II era, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

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