今年上半期の出生数３５万人　５．７％減、過去最少―通年で７０万人割れも・厚労省

　今年上半期（１～６月）の出生数は、前年同期比５．７％減の３５万７４人だったことが３０日、厚生労働省の人口動態統計（速報）で分かった。上半期として過去最少で、３年連続で４０万人を下回った。減少率は前年の３．６％減よりも大きくなっており、少子化の進む現状が浮き彫りになった。
　下半期も同様のペースで推移すると、１年間の出生数が初めて７０万人を割る可能性もある。
　上半期の出生数は前年同期比で２万９７８人減少した。婚姻数は同０．９％増の２４万８５１３組で、２年ぶりに増加に転じた。死亡数は同１．８％増の８１万１８１９人。一方、死亡数から出生数を引いた自然減は４６万１７４５人だった。（2024/08/30-19:37）

The number of babies born in Japan in January-June decreased 5.7 pct from a year before to 350,074, hitting a record low for the first half, the health ministry said in a preliminary report on Friday.
   The first-half figure fell short of 400,000 for the third consecutive year, while the pace of decline accelerated from the year-before drop of 3.6 pct.
   If the number of births falls at a similar pace in the second half of 2024, the annual total could fall below 700,000 for the first time.
   Meanwhile, the number of couples who got married in January-June grew 0.9 pct to 248,513, up for the first time in two years. The number of deaths increased 1.8 pct to 811,819, bringing the country's natural population decline, or the number of deaths minus that of births, to 461,745.
   The annual number of births was below 800,000 for the first time in 2022, and fell to a record low of 727,277 in 2023, marking the eighth consecutive year of decline.