In the last half-year +0.8%, marriages on the rise
First increase in births on a six-monthly basis in the last 11 years in Japan, which has been desperately trying to reverse demographic decline for years.
According to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, between January and June 2026, new births increased by 0.8% to just over 342 thousand units, specifying that the statistics also include those born to foreign citizens and represents an increase of almost three thousand units compared to the same period in 2025.
Japan has recorded a constant decline in births since 1973, the year in which, at the height of the second post-war baby boom, 2.09 million were registered. The recent trend reversal is linked to the recovery of marriages in the last two years: in 2025 unions, including those with foreign citizens, increased by 1.1% to around 505,000, the second consecutive annual increase, while in the first half of 2026 they grew by 0.2% to around 239,000. Analysts, however, remain cautious: various projections indicate that births will continue to decline in the long term, due to the decline in the population of childbearing age and the growing propensity to postpone or give up marriage. The increase affected 26 out of 47 prefectures, with Tokyo leading the way. In 2025, births had fallen to 705,000, a historic low for the tenth consecutive year, fueling calls for new measures to support marriages and birth rates.
