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Japanese
researchers on Friday unveiled a population clock that
showed the nation’s people could theoretically become
extinct in 1,000 years because of declining birth rates.
Academics in the city of Sendai said that Japan’s
population of children aged up to 14, which now stands
at 16.6 million, is shrinking at the rate of one every
100 seconds.
Their extrapolations pointed to a Japan with no
children left within a millennium. “If rate of decline
continues, we will be able to celebrate the Children’s
Day public holiday on May 5, 3011 as there will be one
child,” said Hiroshi Yoshida, an economics professor at
Tohoku University.
“But 100 seconds later there will be no children
left,” he said. “The overall trend is towards
extinction, which started in 1975 when Japan’s fertility
rate fell below two.” Yoshida said he created the
population clock to encourage “urgent” discussion of the
issue. Another study released earlier this year showed
Japan’s population is expected to shrink to a third of
its current 127.7 million over the next century.
Government projections show the birth rate will hit
just 1.35 children per woman within 50 years, well below
the replacement rate. Meanwhile, life expectancy is
expected to rise from 86.39 years in 2010 to 90.93 years
in 2060 for women and from 79.64 years to 84.19 years
for men. AFP |
