Japan's birth rate is expected to fall again this year, falling below last year's record low, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroichi Matsuno describing the current "critical situation".

The picture shows Japanese parents taking their newborns to participate in the blessing activity.

(European News Agency)

(Central News Agency) Japan's birth rate is expected to fall again this year, falling below last year's record low, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroichi Matsuno described the current "critical situation".

The Associated Press reported that Matsuno vowed that the government would take comprehensive measures to encourage people to marry and have children.

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Matsuno said today that the number of births in Japan from January to September this year was 599,636, a decrease of 4.9% from last year, which means that the number of births in 2022 will be lower than last year's low of 811,000.

Japan is the world's third-largest economy, but living costs are high and wages are growing slowly.

Although the Japanese government offers subsidies for pregnancy, childbirth and childcare, the authorities' policies to encourage childbearing have so far had limited effect.

"(The fertility rate) is even lower than last year. I understand that the situation is critical," Matsuno said.

Poor job prospects, grueling commutes and a corporate culture that doesn't allow two parents to work at the same time keep many young Japanese from getting married and starting families.

After peaking at about 2.1 million births in 1973, Japan's births began to decline.

The number of births in 2040 is expected to decrease to 740,000.

Japan's population of more than 125 million has been declining for 14 consecutive years and is expected to drop to 86.7 million by 2060.

A shrinking and aging population has huge economic and national security implications as Japan builds up its military might to counter China's increasingly assertive territorial ambitions.

In a report submitted to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last week, a panel of Japanese government experts pointed out that factors such as low birth rate and shrinking population may erode Japan's national strength.