The ageing country will face significant problems if its falling birthrate is left unaddressed, says Japanese PM Fumio Kishida. Japan, which has a population of 125 million, had fewer than 800,000 births last year – down from more than 2 million a year in the 1970s. Adding to Japan’s life expectancy increasing in recent decades, it means there are far fewer young people working to support many more older people. He says Japan – which has the 2nd-oldest population in the world (Monaco is #1, in case you were wondering…) – is “standing on the verge of whether we can continue to function as a society” and that policies regarding children and child-rearing need immediate prioritisation. It comes a week after China confirmed its first population decline in 6 decades as its fertility rates also dive.