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Source: Reuters; May 4, 2003 Japan Experiences 22nd Year of Population Decline Tokyo, Japan -- Japan continues to defy population control advocates and has experienced its 22nd year of population decline. The number of children under 15 has declined for the 22nd year in a row, Japanese media said on Sunday, a day before the national holiday of Children's Day. The number of children in Japan stood at 18.01 million as of April 1, down 170,000 from last year, and representing 14.1% of the nation's population, Kyodo news agency reported, citing a report from the Home Affairs Ministry. This was lower than in Italy, another country experiencing population decline, where children under 15 make up 14.4% of the population, or the United States, where children make up 21.1% of the population, Kyodo added. There were 9.23 million boys and 8.78 million girls, with the fewest children in the newborn to two-year-old age bracket -- a sign of the falling birthrate that has given government planners a headache as they struggle to cope with rising pension costs. In contrast, there were 23.62 million people over 65, accounting for 18.5% of Japan's population, as of September 2002. According to Home Affairs Ministry estimates, Japan's population stood at 127.53 million as of April 1.
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