New adults comprise less than 1% of population for 1st time

TOKYO, Dec. 31 Kyodo -
People who came of age in 2010 comprise less than 1 percent of Japan's
population, the first time the proportion of new adults has fallen below the 1
percent line, according to Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry
projections released Friday.
The new statistics confirm that Japanese society is aging and its people are
having fewer babies. In the year, a projected 1.24 million people reached the
age of 20, comprising 0.97 percent of the total projected population of 127.36
million.
The government started to compile comparable projections in 1968.
Of those aged 20, 630,000 are men and 610,000 women. There are 30,000 fewer 20
year olds than a year ago, marking a new low for the fourth consecutive year.
The population coming of age is projected to decline at a moderate pace for the
next 10 years, according to the National Institute of Population and Social
Security Research.
In 10 years' time, the population of 20 year olds is expected to total 1.19
million. But after that, it is forecast to decline at an accelerated pace,
reaching 930,000 in 2031. In 30 years, it is projected to fall to 780,000.
''The pace of decline is intensifying in the youth population because people
are having fewer babies and because the generation of people who are nearing 40
years old, who were born from the Second Baby Boomers, are not having enough
babies to cause another baby boom,'' an institute official said.
==Kyodo