TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The number of births in Japan in 2024 is set to fall below 700,000 for the first time after government data showed Friday that the figure for the first 11 months of the year dropped 5.1 percent to 661,577.

The figure underscores a trend in Japan where more people are choosing not to marry or delaying marriage, partly due to concerns about child-rearing amid rising living costs. The lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are also thought to have had an impact.

The preliminary data released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for births from January to November includes foreigners. However, the full-year figure is expected to exclude babies born to foreign nationals.

The number of births in the country has been on a downward trend, dropping to below 900,000 in 2019 and below 800,000 in 2022.

The figure fell in 2023 to 727,277, a record low since comparable data became available in 1899.

A fall of 3.8 percent from 2023 will bring the figure below 700,000. The decline between January and August 2024 from a year earlier was 5.9 percent.

The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research estimated the figure for 2024 to be 755,000 and had projected births to drop below 700,000 by 2038.

Japan faces labor shortages that threaten the sustainability of social security systems, such as health care and pensions.

The government aims to raise the birthrate through measures such as expanding child care allowances and offering benefits for parental leave, viewing the period until the early 2030s as the "last chance" to address the birthrate crisis.