Japan's huge sex problem just hit a 67-year low

pulse

May 4, 2017 4:57 PM

Since Japan began tracking the population of children in 1950, the number has never been as low as it is today.

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Ever since 1950 when Japan began tracking its population of children, the number has never been as low as it is today.

New data from the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry finds the population shrank by 170,000 kids from this time last year, to a new low of 15.71 million, The Japan Times reports.

This is the 36th consecutive year the population has dropped.

Japan's fertility crisis has been many years in the making. As older generations start to die off without younger generations starting families behind them, economists say Japan shows all the signs of a "demographic time bomb."

Without any intervention, Japan's economy will only continue to shrink.

Japan's fertility rate is among the lowest in the world, at just 1.4 births per woman. Sociologists have found populations stay steady when a country has at least 2.1 births per woman. Beneath that threshold, and countries are likely to see their populations start to decline, which Japan has.

The trend has also led to another record-low, according to the new data: Japan's ratio of children to the rest of the population is just 12.4%. That marks the 43rd straight year of declines and places Japan's ratio at the very bottom of countries with 40 million people or more.

Other countries do face similar problems, including the US, Denmark, China, and Singapore — with fertility rates

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