Jan 27, Kathmandu: In Japan, the price of daily consumables is the highest it has been in 41 years. Last month, the price of major consumer goods increased by 4 percent compared to the previous year, according to data from the Bank of Japan (BOJ). This number is more than twice the target of BOJ.

The decline in inflation, it has created pressure on the central bank of Japan to increase interest rates in order to make daily living easier. Japan's inflation has been the highest since 1981, according to public government data. Despite the increase in the prices of food and fuel, this week, BOJ surprised customers by announcing that it would maintain its investors at almost zero interest rates.

Breaking with other countries' practices of raising interest rates when inflation rises, Japan has adopted a policy of not raising interest rates. Japan, which is the third largest economy in the world, has broken the trend of other countries to increase interest rates compared to last year. Because of this, the Japanese currency (yen) became weak compared to other powerful currencies.

A steadily declining population

The total population here has decreased by 0.43 percent in 2022. According to the provisional estimated data released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, as of January 1, 2023, the total population of the country is 124.7 million. While a year ago it was 12.53 million.

According to statistics, the average population of children under the age of 15 is 11.44 million, which is 11.6 percent of the population. According to the ministry, the population decreased by 0.6 percent in 2021.