Japan’s baby boom among foreign-born population spotlights demographic timebomb

There were 41,000 fewer babies born to Japanese parents in 2024 compared with the previous year, while Japan’s foreign contingent is approaching a share of the population unimaginable a decade ago. Photograph: YDL/Getty Images

This week brought encouraging news for Japan’s long battle to defuse its demographic timebomb: in 2024, the number of babies born to one sector of the population rose to a record of more than 22,000 – that’s about 3,000 more than the previous year and a 50% increase on a decade ago.

But none of the women who answered calls – invariably issued by conservative male politicians – to have more children were Japanese.