World News

How do Japan's population figures stack up?

The fall — the 13th consecutive non-foreign population slide — was the largest since the government began collecting comparable data in 1950, according to the Interior Ministry.

Including foreign nationals, the population also fell by 550,000 people to 123.8 million — the 14th straight annual fall.

Only two prefectures, Tokyo and neighboring Saitama, had population increases with numbers falling in the country's remaining 45 prefectures.

Akita prefecture, in the northern part of Honshu island, showed the most marked decline.

Japan's population peaked in 2008, and since then it has steadily shrunk because of a declining birthrate.