The population of Japan has [fallen / felled] by over three million in the past five years. This is the largest [drop / dropping] since records began in 1920. Japan's internal affairs ministry has released preliminary [figurines / figures] for its 2025 census. This demographic [scurvy / survey] is conducted every five years. The latest one reveals that the number of [residents / residence] in October 2025 was 123,049,524. This was a drop [at / of] 3,096,575 from the 2020 survey — a fall of 2.5 per cent. The census is the third [on / in] a row to show [a / the] decrease. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary said: "It was [confirmed / conformed] again that the population decline is advancing even further." He vowed to promote "comprehensive measures" to address the [downturn / upturn] .
The government [contributed / attributed] the decline to various factors. These included historically low [born / birth] rates. In 2025, there were around 706,000 births in Japan. This [comparison / compared] to around 2.5 million annual births [while / during] the postwar baby [boom / boomers] . Successive governments have introduced many [measures / measurements] to encourage [couples / couple] to have babies. They have expanded child allowances, increased parental leave, and subsidized early years education. However, these have had [few / little] success. Japan is one of the world's oldest societies. The increasingly greying population is putting [considerable / considerate] strain on healthcare systems, pensions, and the labour [farce / force] .
