TOKYO, May 25, 2024 (BSS/Xinhua) - The number of babies born in Japan in January-March fell to 170,804, government data showed Friday.
 Total births nationwide, including to foreign nationals, fell by 11,673, or 6.4 percent, from a year earlier, according to a preliminary health ministry report.

 The number of deaths, up 0.5 percent, outnumbered births by 270,566 in the reporting period, the data showed.

 Meanwhile, the number of marriages in the first quarter of 2024 rose 1.3 percent to 136,653.