Japan will cease to exist if it can’t slow a fall in its birth rate, PM’s adviser warns

Country’s social security system will collapse and economic strength will decline, warns adviser Masako Mori

Japan will “disappear” if action is not taken to curb the slowing birthrate in the country, a senior adviser to the Japanese prime minister has warned.

The comment comes just days after Japan announced that the number of babies born last year had slumped to a record low.

The number of newborns fell to 799,728 in 2022, down 5.1 per cent from a year earlier, to the lowest since Japan began record-keeping in 1899, according to data from its health ministry.