The number of children under 15 years of age was estimated to have declined for the 37th straight year, dropping to 15.53 million as of April 1, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said on Friday.
According to the survey, this is 170,000 fewer than the year before.
The percentage of children as a part of the total population -- which is 126.53 million -- was 12.3 percent, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous year and falling for the 44th consecutive year. Both the number and the percentage are record lows since 1950, when the survey began in its current form.
The number of boys was 7.95 million, down by 90,000, and the number of girls was 7.58 million, down by 80,000.
By age group -- each of which covers three years -- there was a downward trend. The 0-2 age group had a population of 2.93 million, lower than the 3.26 million in the oldest group, that of children aged 12-14. The difference between the youngest and oldest groups was 330,000.
According to the ministry, the percentage of children in Japan was among the lowest of countries with a population of more than 40 million, including South Korea (13.1 percent) and Germany (13.2 percent).
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