This decision clearly reflects the trend of Japan’s aging population and declining birth rate, which has caused the demand for adult diapers to significantly exceed that of disposable baby diapers. The BBC reported that the number of newborns in Japan in 2023 was 758,631, a decrease of 5.1% from the previous year, setting a new low since the 19th century. Compared with the birth rate, which is only falling but not rising, the proportion of the elderly population is constantly increasing. Nearly 30% of the country’s population is over 65 years old, and the proportion of elderly people over 80 years old will exceed 10% for the first time in 2023. This shows that the adult population is The demand for diapers seems to have greater market potential than babies.
Prince Holdings also revealed that its subsidiary “Prince Nepia” has an annual output of 400 million baby diapers. However, since its peak production of 700 million pieces in 2001, it has continued to decline year after year without any signs of recovery. At the same time, the adult diaper market in Japan continues to expand, with an estimated market value exceeding US$2 billion (approximately NT$64.02 billion). Japan has the oldest population structure in the world. In fact, as early as 2011, Unicharm, Japan’s largest diaper manufacturer, publicly revealed that the sales volume of its adult diaper products has exceeded that of baby diapers.
Although the domestic production lines in Japan have been stopped, considering that the market still has expected demand, Oji Holdings will continue to produce baby diaper products in Malaysia and Indonesia.
With the birth rate plummeting and the population aging, the total population reduction has become a national security crisis that Japan, an economic powerhouse, has to face squarely. Although successive Japanese governments have wanted to solve these problems and have tried to make many reforms and efforts, including increasing subsidies for young couples or parents, or adding more baby care and child care facilities, they have never shown outstanding results. Experts remind the Japanese government that there are many reasons for the decline in the birth rate. It is not just a single reason such as a decline in marriage rates, more women joining the labor market, or a rise in the cost of raising children. To completely solve the problem, the people must be really willing. And don’t worry.
In addition to Japan, the fertility rate in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea has also declined year after year, with South Korea the most severe, even ranking among the “lowest in the world.” As for mainland China, there will also be a second year of population decline in 2023. Although the government has launched a variety of incentive measures to stimulate the birth rate, the impact of the multi-year one-child policy, coupled with economic factors and an aging population, have made China face a demographic crisis. Due to structural problems, the next generation will be forced to bear several times the heavy support pressure in the future.
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