Japanese expert reveals when the country will be left with just one child under 14
Share:
It shows the number of children in the current year, the previous year, and tracks the decrease every second. A Japanese expert on demographic trends and ageing society has warned that if the country’s birthrate continues its current decline, the nation will be left with only one child under the age of 14 by 5 January 2720.
Hiroshi Yoshida, a professor at Tohoku University’s Research Center for Aged Economy and Society, has been maintaining a conceptual clock that highlights Japan’s rapidly declining fertility rate by displaying real-time data on the number of children in the country.
It shows the number of children in the current year and the previous year and tracks the decrease every second. Using official population data from the Japanese Statistics Bureau, the clock calculates a decreasing rate by comparing the number of children in consecutive years. The clock then estimates the year when the number of children will drop to just one, based on this steady decline.
According to the latest calculation, this would happen around the year 2720 – 695 years from now. Mr Yoshida has been releasing estimates every year since April 2012, according to The Japan Times. The forecast is derived from the annual rate of decline in the population of children. The latest data, reflecting a 2.3 per cent decrease, has advanced the predicted date by more than 100 years compared to the estimate made in 2023.
