DIGIVESTASI - Japan is facing a serious population crisis, with the birth rate continuously declining. A demographic expert has warned that if the drop in births continues, Japan will face a bleak future with an extremely small number of children. Hiroshi Yoshuda, a professor at the Research Center for Aged Economy and Society, Tohoku University, revealed that by January 5, 2720, Japan would have only one child under the age of 14 if the birth decline trend is not halted.

Yoshuda created a kind of real-time clock displaying the number of children in Japan each year while tracking the ongoing decline. The clock uses official data from the Japanese Statistics Bureau and estimates that the number of children in Japan will drastically drop to just one by 2720, around 695 years from now. This projection is based on the worsening average annual decline in the number of children in Japan.

In 2023, Japan's birth rate reached the lowest level in history, with a rate of 1.20, while Tokyo recorded a birth rate of less than one. This decline is linked to fewer marriages, with many people opting to stay single. Recent data shows that the number of births in the first half of 2024 also fell to the lowest level since 1969, with 350,074 births recorded, a 5.7% decrease compared to the same period in 2023. The lowest annual birth rate was recorded in 2023, since records began in 1899.

Japanese policymakers are working hard to address the declining birth rate issue. The government has implemented various measures, including expanding childcare facilities, providing housing subsidies, and launching dating apps to encourage marriage and childbearing. One of these apps even caught the attention of billionaire Elon Musk, who expressed his excitement about the Japanese government's efforts. In a post on X, Musk wrote, "I’m happy that the Japanese government recognizes the importance of this issue. If radical actions are not taken, Japan (and many other countries) will disappear!"

Temukan berita dan artikel lainnya di Google News