A private research firm predicts that the number of babies born in Japan last year is the lowest since the government began record-keeping in 1899.

The Japan Research Institute estimated the annual figure based on the number of births between January and September 2023 disclosed by the health ministry.

Its estimate of 726,000 is down some 40,000, or 5.8 percent, from 2022.

The number of children per woman during her lifetime is expected to have dropped to around 1.20, surpassing the record low of 1.26 marked in 2022.

The number of marriages increased in 2022 for the first time in three years to 504,930.

But the figure for last year is expected to have fallen to 476,000, a drop of 5.8 percent.

The institute's senior researcher Fujinami Takumi says that unstable employment during the coronavirus pandemic caused many couples to give up on or postpone marriage, and that is now affecting the number of births.

He adds that more women may be reluctant to have children because they must bear the burden of household chores even if they enter the workforce.

Fujinami explains that as women frequently earn less and are often in non-regular jobs, it makes more sense for men to work full-time in terms of household income. He says that as a result, the burden of household duties women shoulder remains unchanged.

He also says that in order to increase the birth rate, it's crucial to promote gender equality both in work and family life, and businesses should create an environment to enable this.