Japan's population actually dropped

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Japan's population at 127.11 mil in 2015, down for 1st time since 1920

TOKYO —
Japan’s population stood at 127,110,047 as of Oct 1, 2015, falling some 0.7% from five years earlier, the latest census showed Friday, marking the first decline since the inaugural survey in 1920.

The preliminary governmental report showed the country’s population dropped 947,305 from 128,057,352 in 2010.

Although the number of non-Japanese residents is increasing, natural population decline exceeded the increase, the internal affairs ministry said.

Comparing the latest results against U.N. estimates, Japan is now the 10th-largest country in the world by population, making up 1.7% of the world population. Among top 20 countries, it was the only country whose population was declining.

“It is crucial to establish a social structure to accommodate” the decline, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, adding the government aims to implement various measures to raise the country’s birthrate to counter the decline as well.

Of the 47 prefectures in Japan, 39 saw their population fall, with 33 of them recording an accelerated rate of decline.

Tokyo and its vicinity bucked the trend and recorded a population increase. The combined population of Tokyo and its neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa rose some 510,000 to 36.13 million, the report said.

By prefecture, Okinawa saw the largest increase of 3% on the back of a high birthrate and an increase in the number of people moving in, followed by Tokyo with a 2.7% rise.

The results of the census, conducted once every five years, showed the number of households increased to 53,403,226, up 2.8%, from the previous survey, while the number of people in a household fell to a record low 2.38, indicating Japan’s average family size is shrinking.

(Source: Japan Today Newspaper 27/02/2016, http://www.japantoday.com/category/...7-11-mil-in-2015-down-for-1st-time-since-1920)