TOKYO, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- The number of babies born to Japanese nationals in Japan rose 0.4 percent year on year to 320,458 in the first half of 2026, marking the first increase for the January-June period in 11 years, government data showed Wednesday.
The figure was almost on par with the pace recorded in 2025, when Japan's annual number of births to Japanese nationals hit a record low of 671,236, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The modest increase is believed to have been partly supported by a rise in marriages in 2024 and 2025, the data showed.
The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research projected in 2023 that annual births would fall below 680,000 by 2040, but the decline has accelerated faster than expected. ■
