TOKYO — The number of people who died in Japan in 2020 fell 0.7% from the previous year to 1,384,544, marking the first decrease in 11 years, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry announced Monday in its interim vital statistics report.
This decrease may have been influenced by precautionary behavioral changes, such as handwashing and mask-wearing, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. From January to September 2020, there was an overall decline in deaths from influenza, pneumonia and other respiratory diseases.
The preliminary report suggests a break from recent years. As Japan’s society continued to “gray,” the number of deaths had been increasing by roughly 20,000 each year.
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Keep on reading: Japan’s overall mortality rate falls for first time in 11 years