{"id":177920,"date":"2026-06-05T10:44:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T01:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=177920&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2026-06-05T10:44:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T01:44:02","slug":"births-fall-across-kyushu-okinawa","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/news\/births-fall-across-kyushu-okinawa\/","title":{"rendered":"Births Fall Across Kyushu, Okinawa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The number of children born in Kyushu and Okinawa declined in every prefecture in 2025, according to newly released Health Ministry data. A total of 85,121 births were recorded across the region, down 1,969 from the previous year. Despite the decline, several prefectures maintained fertility rates above the national average of 1.14. Okinawa recorded Japan\u2019s highest total fertility rate at 1.52, while Miyazaki ranked second nationwide at 1.46. Fertility rates also increased from the previous year in Miyazaki, Nagasaki, and Kumamoto. Fukuoka recorded the region\u2019s lowest rate at 1.21, though it remained above the national average. The ministry said the pace of decline has slowed somewhat but noted that Japan continues to face significant demographic challenges. <strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/news.web.nhk\/newsweb\/na\/nb-5010033480\" target=\"_blank\">NHK News<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nishinippon.co.jp\/item\/1499902\/\" target=\"_blank\">Nishinippon Shimbun<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/fnn_kego-park-playground_2023_WEB.jpg?resize=1400%2C1050&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Birth Rate in Okinawa Still Highest in Nation\" width=\"1400\" height=\"1050\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-163459\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/fnn_kego-park-playground_2023_WEB.jpg?w=1400&amp;ssl=1 1400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/fnn_kego-park-playground_2023_WEB.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/fnn_kego-park-playground_2023_WEB.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/fnn_kego-park-playground_2023_WEB.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><br \/>\nPhoto: Fukuoka Now (For image purposes only)<\/p>\n<p>Get Fukuoka and Kyushu\u2019s top stories delivered to your inbox. The Now is Fukuoka Now\u2019s free biweekly newsletter featuring local news, events, culture, business, and community updates in English. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\">Subscribe to The Now<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Summaries based on public content, errors may occur during translation. Images credited independently. Send feedback using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/contact\/\">this <strong>form<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The number of children born in Kyushu and Okinawa declined in every prefecture in 2025, according to newly released Health Ministry data. A total of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30292,"featured_media":163459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-177920","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-fukuoka-prefecture","location-kyushu","news-category-general","en-US"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/177920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}