Japan's population has been shrinking for 15 years, with huge implications for the country's economy, national defense, and culture. Now, policymakers are working to boost birth rates.

Japan has been struggling to cope with a combination of anaemic economic growth and a shrinking population for over 30 years. 2025 marks the tipping point when the rising costs outstrip the country's ...

In 2024, 720,988 babies were born in the country, marking the ninth consecutive year of decline in child births.

Japanese real wages decreased for a third consecutive month in March, squeezed by relentless inflation although consumer ...

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or ...

TOKYO – Japan’s Health Ministry is set to eliminate out-of-pocket payments associated with child delivery, possibly from April 2026, to address the country’s declining birth rate.

Japan lags far behind other big economies with an index for its real average annual wages showing almost no growth between 1995 and 2021, according to IMF data. That compares with growth rates of ...

"The continuing slide in the birth rate clearly indicates our current policy isn't working at all." Ninety-two percent of Japan's population lives in urban areas, a way of living that Okada sees ...

The Japanese government is likely to establish 1% growth in real wages as its first-ever official target for pay increases, a ...

Japan’s labor market remained largely tight in March, supporting momentum for wage hikes, while uncertainties over the global trade war continue to darken the outlook. The jobless rate ticked up ...

Japan is likely to cover parents’ hospital fees for childbirth from April 2026 as the country struggles to reverse its falling birth rate. A panel of experts tasked with examining ways to ease ...

The mixed wage and spending data highlights Japan's challenging growth outlook ... The consumer inflation rate the ministry uses to calculate real wages, which includes fresh food prices but ...