Japan's population has dwindled for 15 consecutive years, as fewer people marry and have children. About 30 percent of Japanese are now 65 or older, compounding the demographic challenge and dragging on Asia's second-largest economy as it pulls itself out of a decades-long slump.

The number of babies born in Japan fell to a record low of 720,988 in 2024 for a ninth consecutive year of decline, the health ministry said on Thursday, underscoring the rapid ageing and dwindling of the population.

The number of babies born in Japan fell to a record low of 720,988 in 2024 marking the ninth consecutive year of decline, the health ministry said on Thursday.

As a dwindling working-age population is causing a severe shortage of care workers in Japan, the country is turning its eyes to robots for a solution. A Japanese university has designed an artificial intelligence (AI) driven humanoid robot called "AIREC" to carry out tasks such as changing diapers or preventing bedsores for older people who need critical care.

Hold Key to Nursing Japan's Ageing Population By Kiyoshi Takenaka TOKYO (Reuters) - Recently in Tokyo an AI-driven robot leaned over a man lying on his back and gently put a hand on his knee and another on a shoulder and rolled him onto his side -- a manoeuvre used to change diapers or prevent bedsores in the elderly.