The death of Japan.

CNSNews reports on the suicide of a people.


Despite policies aimed at reversing the trend, Japan's government reports a continuing decline in the number of children born, and for the first time in 60 years, the world's second-largest economy could record a population drop this year.

The implications are enormous for a country where more than 70 percent of welfare spending already goes toward age-related benefits.

The proportion of people over 65 years of age is more than 20 percent of the total population and projected to exceed 35 percent by 2050. At the same time, the pool of working-age Japanese continues to diminish.

Health ministry figures released this week show that more people died than were born in Japan during the first six months of 2005, resulting in a net population fall of more than 30,000.

Because a flu epidemic was blamed in part for a high number of deaths during the January-March period, the second half of the year could see a balancing out. But even so, the pattern is one that has been evident for years.

"A recovery trend is usually seen in the latter half of the year," the Japan Times quoted a health ministry official as saying. "But we cannot rule out the possibility that the overall population may shrink this year, depending on the circumstances.

"Three years ago, Japan's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research estimated that the population would peak at 127.7 million in 2006 and then begin a steady decline, reaching 100 million by 2050.