Tokyo. The number of babies born in Japan last year fell for a ninth straight year to a record low, according to health ministry data released Thursday.

The faster-than-predicted decline suggests government measures have not effectively addressed the country's fast-aging and declining population.

The 720,998 babies born in Japan in 2024 was a drop of 5 percent from the previous year, according to the Health and Welfare Ministry. It was the lowest number of births since Japan started taking the statistics in 1899.

“We believe the declining births has not been effectively controlled,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters, adding the government will steadily pursue expanded childcare programs and subsidies for childrearing households while promoting salary increases and support for matchmaking efforts.

The result, which includes babies of foreign nationality born in Japan, is 15 years ahead of the forecast for reaching that level. The birth rate for just Japanese nationals is expected to fall below 700,000 for the first time when it is published later this year.

The result comes just as South Korea reported that the number of babies born in that country rebounded for the first time in nine years in 2024, a result partly attributed to an increase in marriages among couples who delayed weddings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Japanese survey Thursday also noted that the number of marriages last year was 499,999, an increase of 2.2 percent in 2023 when a 90-year low was recorded.

Experts say improving outlook for the economy, jobs, and gender equality is key to encouraging young people to marry and have children.

Surveys show that many younger Japanese are reluctant to marry or have families, discouraged by bleak job prospects, the high cost of living that rises at a faster pace than salaries and corporate cultures that are not compatible with having both parents work.

Japan’s population is projected to fall by about 30 percent, to 87 million by 2070, when four out of every 10 people will be 65 or older.