Japanese Birth Rates Highest in Okinawa and Kyūshū Municipalities

The 2018 to 2022 municipality figures released by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare for the total fertility rate, indicating the number of children a woman has in her lifetime, showed that the rates tended to be higher in the west and lower in the east of Japan.

The municipality with the highest birthrate was the town of Tokunoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture, at 2.25, while the lowest was Higashiyama Ward in Kyoto with 0.76, which was nearly three times lower. This was the eighth such survey, which is held every five years. Data was compiled for 1,887 out of 1,896 municipalities as of the end of December 2022, excluding those severely affected by disaster.

The second highest rate after Tokunoshima was 2.24 in the town of Amagi, Kagoshima, and then 2.20 in the village of Ginoza, Okinawa. Of the top 50 municipalities, 44 were located in the Okinawa/Kyūshū region, with Okinawa Prefecture (20) and Kagoshima Prefecture (12) accounting for the most.

Municipalities with the Highest Total Fertility Rate in Japan

In contrast, out of the 50 municipalities with the lowest rates, 40 were located in the Tokyo metropolitan area (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba) and the Kansai region (Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, and Hyōgo). The only two municipalities from the Okinawa/Kyūshū region that fell into this range were Chūō Ward and Hakata Ward, both in the city of Fukuoka.

Municipalities with the Lowest Total Fertility Rate in Japan

The five-year national average for the birth rate was 1.33, down 0.1 points from 1.43 recorded for the period from 2013 to 2017 at the time of the last survey in 2020.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)