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How many babies are born in Japan?

746 thousand babies born in Japan in 2026. That is 0.56% of all births worldwide, and the 40th largest of any country. UN projection

2024–2100 uses the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium scenario, based on assumptions about fertility, mortality and migration. These are projections, not observed births or guaranteed outcomes. Uncertainty increases further into the future; this site does not display prediction intervals.

Births in Japan: history and projections

100K1M 1 CE1000150018002100
Annual births, logarithmic scale. Shading marks modelled years before 1800; the dashed line marks UN projections from 2024.
Every figure refers to the area inside Japan’s present-day borders. Before 1800 the state did not exist in its current form. See how borders are handled.
Year Estimated births Population Per 1,000 Evidence
1 CE ~14K ~300K 45.4 Modelled estimate
1000 ~240K ~6M 39.8 Modelled estimate
1500 ~530K ~12M 43.1 Modelled estimate
1800 ~829K ~28M 29.6 Historical reconstruction
1900 ~1.41M ~44.4M 31.7 Historical reconstruction
1950 2.46M 86.4M 28.5 UN estimate
2000 1.2M 127M 9.4 UN estimate
2023 750K 124M 6.0 UN estimate
2026 746K 122M 6.1 UN projection
2050 727K 105M 6.9 UN projection
2075 652K 87.4M 7.5 UN projection
2100 558K 76.8M 7.3 UN projection

What the numbers show

The highest annual births in Japan among estimates through 2023 were in 1947, at about ~2.62M. That is roughly 192 times the estimated ~13.6K births a year in 1 CE.

At 1.23 children per woman, fertility in Japan is below the level of about 2.1 that would hold a population steady over the long run without migration.

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How many babies are born in Japan each year?

An estimated 746 thousand babies are born in Japan in 2026, according to the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium projection. That is about 2,040 a day and 0.56% of all births worldwide.

What is the birth rate in Japan?

Japan has an estimated 6.1 births per 1,000 people in 2026, and a total fertility rate of 1.23 children per woman.

Where these numbers come from

2026 figures are the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium scenario. UN estimates cover 1950–2023; projections cover 2024–2100. Earlier years come from Gapminder’s reconstructions (1800–1949) and a model applied to HYDE population estimates (before 1800). The full chain is set out in the methodology, and every source is listed on the sources page.