Micah McCartney
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of Japan has called population decline the country's "biggest problem" and set out an action plan for her ministers to follow in hopes of tackling the issue.
Why It Matters
These demographic trends have hollowed out rural communities, driven up the dependency ratio—the number of working people supporting those outside the labor force—and placed growing strain on social safety nets, threatening the long-term growth of Asia's second-largest economy.
Japan, like many high- and middle-income countries, has struggled to stabilize its declining birth rate amid the rising cost of living, stagnating wages, and shifting attitudes among younger generations toward work-life balance and parenthood.
The impact is especially pronounced in Japan, which the United Nations has classified as a "super-aged" society—meaning at least 20 percent of the population is over 65. In Japan, that figure is close to 30 percent.
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