InsideJapan News Network

The number of young Japanese adults fell to a record low in 2010 as the country continues to see a declining birth rate.

A total of 1.24 million men and women turned 20 in the past 12 months - a drop of 30,000 compared to government figures produced in 2009.

In 1970, the number of new adults in the country stood at 2.46 million but it has declined since then and now the age group makes up just 0.97 per cent of the country's total population.

According to the national institute of population and social security research, the number of 20-year-olds could fall to just 780,000 within three decades.

"The pace of decline is intensifying in the youth population because fewer people are having babies, and because the generation of people who are nearing 40 are not having enough children to cause another baby boom," an official told Kyodo News.

Last week, figures revealed that the total population of Japan fell by a record number in 2010.

Written by Mark Smith