Japan's Child Population Declines For 41st Straight Year
Japan is celebrating Children's Day on Thursday.
The country's internal affairs ministry estimates that on April 1, the number of children aged 14 or younger had declined for the 41st consecutive year to 14.65 million. That's a drop of 250,000 from the previous year.
Japan's child population began to shrink in 1982.
The country now has 3.23 million children aged between 12 and 14, 3.13 million aged between nine and 11, and 3.01 million aged between six and eight. There are also 2.78 million children aged between three and five, and 2.51 million aged two or younger.
These figures are indicative of the trend in Japan that the younger children are, the fewer their numbers.
The percentage of children in Japan's overall population was 11.7 percent, marking a 48th straight year of decline.