Japan’s population fell by more than 3 million over the past five years, according to official statistics released on Friday, a drop that underscores the depths of the country’s accelerating demographic crisis.

The population stood at 123 million in 2025, according to preliminary census results, down from 126.1 million in 2020. It is the biggest decrease since the government began collecting census data in 1920.

Japan’s population peaked in 2008 at 128 million, and it is projected to fall to 87 million by 2070. The country is now roughly the same size it was in 1989.

For decades, the Japanese authorities have tried to make up for the rapidly aging population by encouraging young people to have more children. But the effort has fallen short, leaving the country with one of the world’s lowest birth rates. For each new birth, there are two deaths.

Japan is a harbinger of the demographic headwinds that will soon buffet other developed countries. The shrinking population is already constraining Japan’s economic growth, putting pressures on its health care system and causing labor shortages.

The census data shows that the demographic crisis has now reached almost every part of Japan. All but two of the country’s 47 prefectures reported population decreases in 2025, and the rate of decline is accelerating.

Among the hardest hit areas were the northern prefectures of Akita and Aomori, where the population shrank by about 8 percent from 2020 to 2025. Those areas are home to some of Japan’s oldest residents, and young people have left at a rapid rate because of stagnant wages and harsh winters.

Most of Japan is losing population

The Japanese countryside is hollowing out as the population ages and young people leave to seek jobs in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and other cities. In some rural areas, schools are being converted into nursing homes and community centers. Millions of homes are vacant; government offices and hospitals are downsizing; and train lines are shutting down.

Opening Japan’s doors more widely to foreigners could help offset the declines. But the government has long taken a cautious approach to immigration, and nationalist politicians and commentators have gained influence recently with a “Japan First” agenda.

“Japan has now reached a level where this kind of decline is not reversible in the short- or medium-run,” said James Raymo, a professor of sociology at Princeton University who studies Japan. “It simply will not happen in the absence of mass immigration.”

There were a few bright spots in the census, including Okinawa, a subtropical chain of islands in the south, where the population grew slightly. Okinawa has Japan’s highest fertility rate, with women there giving birth to an average of 1.5 children in their lifetimes, compared with 1.1 nationally.

Japan’s biggest cities are managing to stave off demographic decline — for now. The population of the Tokyo metropolitan area, which includes Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba, rose slightly to 37 million in 2025. The area now accounts for roughly 30 percent of Japan’s total population.

Tokyo, a vibrant hub of business, politics and culture, is now about 20 times denser than the rest of Japan — and one of the world’s densest cities. (Tokyo’s population rose more than 1 percent to 14.2 million in 2025.) The growth has been fueled in large part by an influx of students and young workers looking for jobs and educational opportunities.

Japan’s woes are likely to worsen in the coming decades. It will probably become increasingly difficult to find workers to staff schools, hospitals, police departments and train stations. And the country could lack enough young people to pay the taxes necessary to support retirees.

Professor Raymo said the Japanese government’s efforts to promote fertility had “not really moved the needle.” He said that ultimately Japan could provide lessons for other governments.

“More and more countries in Asia and elsewhere will experience similar levels of demographic decline,” he said. “Japan is just at the forefront and has been at it much longer.”

A drone struck an apartment building Friday in Romania, a NATO member, causing an explosion and fire that injured multiple people, local authorities said.

According to Romania’s Ministry of Defense, the incident occurred as Russia carried out an overnight drone attack in neighboring Ukraine near the Romanian border.

“A drone entered Romanian airspace, was tracked by radar systems as far as the Southern area of Galați municipality, and crashed onto the roof of a residential apartment building,” the ministry said.

Romania — a member of both NATO and the European Union — has reported more than two dozen incidents involving Russian drones entering its airspace since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine.

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Friday’s incident marked the first time a drone struck a populated area in Romania, resulting in injuries.

Romania’s state news agency reported that a woman and her child were hospitalized with minor injuries, while two other people were treated at the scene for panic attacks.

Following the incident, Romania requested additional anti-drone capabilities from NATO and described the drone’s flight path as a serious violation of international law, according to The Associated Press.

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Romania’s emergency response agency said the drone struck the apartment building and exploded, sparking a fire on the 10th floor.

The agency said the drone’s entire explosive payload detonated upon impact.

Seventy people were evacuated from the building, authorities said. The fire has since been brought under control.

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The defense ministry said two F-16 fighter jets and a military helicopter were deployed to monitor the Russian attack. The pilots were authorized to shoot down any drones that posed a threat.

The incident came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this week that he was pressing the United States to provide additional Patriot air defense missiles to help counter Russian attacks.

He warned that deliveries to Ukraine were falling dangerously short as the conflict with Iran strains U.S. military resources and stockpiles.

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“I believe [the U.S.] must act quicker. We are being very persistent,” Zelenskyy told reporters during a visit to Sweden.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.