ANKARA – Japan’s already dwindling population has posted its largest annual decline on record, falling by 898,000 people as of last October compared to a year earlier, Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported Monday.
This marks the 14th consecutive year of population decline in the country, according to a government estimate. The previous record drop was 861,000, reported in July 2024.
Japan’s total population, including foreign residents, stood at 120.3 million, underscoring the country’s intensifying demographic crisis amid a rapidly aging society and declining birthrate.
The figures, released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, show that only Tokyo and neighboring Saitama prefecture registered population increases. This is the largest demographic drop since 1968.
In response to the demographic crisis, the Japanese parliament passed a law in June 2024 aimed at reversing the falling birthrate. Measures under the law include expanded child allowances and enhanced parental leave benefits.
Officials have warned that the period leading up to 2030 represents a critical window to address the trend. Late marriages, financial insecurity, and limited support for working parents are commonly cited as contributing factors.
Japan’s total fertility rate — the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime — fell to its lowest level in 2023 since records began in 1947. (Anadolu)
US exempts smartphones, computers from sweeping tariff scheme
SEOUL – U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has exempted smartphones, computers and several other electronic devices from a sweeping set of reciprocal tariffs, offering relief to South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co., Apple Inc. and other global tech firms.
The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a notice Saturday announcing the exemption of select electronics, such as smartphones, laptops, personal computers (PCs), servers and semiconductor equipment, from the reciprocal tariffs, including the 125% levies imposed on Chinese imports.
The exclusions apply retroactively to April 5, it added.
The latest decision is expected to ease concerns across the global tech industry about surging prices, as many of those products are manufactured in China.
Trump had initially planned to implement steep reciprocal tariffs on most countries, but he announced a 90-day pause on the scheme last week. Instead,
the US has imposed a blanket global tariff of 10%.
For imports from China, the exemption applies only to the 125% reciprocal tariffs. Previous duties of 20% on all Chinese imports, which Trump said were related to the US fentanyl crisis, will remain in effect, according to foreign media reports. (Yonhap)