Unbelievable 9% jump in death in japan in 2022. This being the Nikkei, they did not mentioned the vaccine of course. Just aging society and latest Covid wave. Worse, the birth rate is also plummeting. So much so that Japan is 11 years ahead of schedule with its population curve. As mentioned earlier, believe whatever or whoever you want but clearly the numbers do not lie!
Record 1.58m people died, showing impact of aging population, COVID
Total deaths in Japan jumped nearly 9% in 2022 from the previous year, underscoring the severe impact of the aging population and the COVID pandemic.
A record 1,582,033 people, including foreigners living in Japan and Japanese citizens living abroad, died last year, according to preliminary data released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Tuesday. The pace of the rise in deaths jumped from 4.9% in 2021 to 8.9%.
A large number of people died after being infected with COVID -- Japan has reported about 72,000 pandemic-related deaths since the onset of the disease in early 2020. But the underlying reason is the graying of society, with a government estimate released last month showing that 29% of the population is now 65 years old or older.
The number of deaths was nearly double that of births. The number of newborns fell 5.1% to 799,728 in 2022, with the pace of decline accelerating from 3.4% the previous year. This stems from the shrinking number of Japanese of childbearing age and their declining propensity to have children.
The decline in births came 11 years earlier than previously forecast. A 2017 study by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research predicted that births, including those to foreign parents, would drop below 800,000 in 2033.
In addition to demographic momentum, surveys show the high cost of raising children, including education, weighing on young couples, adding to the decline in births. The natural decline (total deaths minus total births) of 782,305 people during 2022 was also the highest on record.
Tuesday's statistics come as the Japanese government plans to promote reforms to the workplace and expand economic and social support measures aimed at encouraging young people to marry and have children.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, in a January speech to parliament, described Japan as "on the brink" of being unable to maintain its social functions, emphasizing that the need to address the issue is "a challenge that cannot be postponed."
The falling birthrate in Japan is mirrored elsewhere in East Asia. Last week, South Korea announced that the number of newborns in the country fell 4.4% to 249,000 in 2022. Likewise, official figures released in January revealed that China's births fell nearly 10% to 9.56 million.
Declining births generally lead to future shortages of labor and taxpayers, hurting both the economy and public finances.
However, the number of marriages in Japan rose for the first time in three years last year, climbing 1.1% to 519,823, as couples that had put off tying the knot in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, got married.
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