diapers

Last year some 671,200 babies. It’s bad, terrible data. They are not only 15,000 less which in 2024, also consolidates the Japanese birth rate below the barrier of 700,000 births per year and represents a new historical minimum. Since the country began to compile statistics, back in 1899, so few births had never been recorded. The figure represents a blow for the Government, determined to reactivate the birth rate, but there is someone who looks at it with even more concern: the manufacturers of baby items. That’s why every time they pay more attention in pets. The new reality. If something tastes good Japan, South Korea, China, Russia or any other country buffeted by the winds of demographic winter (something that Spain is foreign) is that the collapse of the birth rate has multiple consequences. It affects demographic growth, but it also has social, political, health, economic and even consequences. at the defense level. Some of these effects will take years (even decades) to be clearly felt. Others are already perceived, as the difficulties that companies that for years have been dedicated to manufacturing child care items go through. How do you keep a business afloat when your potential customer base keeps shrinking? How the hell do you sell diapers, strollers, rattles, cribs… when there are no more babies to use them? That question has already been raised some companies of Korea dedicated to manufacturing baby strollers (now converted into strollers for pets) and more and more companies in the sector in Japan are considering it, as has just been revealed an article from the Al Jazeera network. @curatedbyangie Inside Interpets Japan 🇯🇵🐾 So many cute dogs & cats, instagrammable booths, and interesting pet products 👀 Also met one of our clients here, their toys are a favorite among pet owners in Singapore 😍 Excited to have them back at SG Pet Festival this year again! #interpets #japanpets #dogsoftiktok #sgpetfestival #AngieCurates ♬ pink blossom – nanako In the absence of babies, dogs. In his chronicle The chain talks about several companies traditionally linked to the child care sector that, little by little, have been showing interest in the pet business. One of the clearest cases is that of Lucky Industriesan old acquaintance in the sector, famous for its baby carriers, an item of which it has manufactured millions of units since the 30s. In 2022 the firm decided to take advantage of that background to launch Nu-ia line designed specifically for dogs. Its approach is very simple: for decades the company helped families travel with babies, now that there are fewer babies, but millions of petswhy not help them with them? A name: Interpets. Lucky Industries is just one example of a much larger trend that Al Jazeera reporter Genevieve Mansfield saw firsthand in Interpetsa fair held a few months ago in Tokyo that focused on the pet care market. One of the stands that could be visited was that of Unicharm, a Tokyo-based company that was successful selling disposable diapers (among other hygiene items) and 25 years ago decided to expand its business line by marketing pet diapers: Unicharm. There are so many for dogs as for cats. Add and continue. Other examples are AirBuggy and Sweet Mommy. The first company offers pet strollers; the second made headlines a few years ago by announcing portable fans to make heat waves more bearable for dogs and cats. It is not just about meeting new needs. The idea is to diversify the business, targeting an increasingly attractive market. A spokesperson for Unicharm has recognized to the Al Jazeera network that expects the pet care business to represent 17% of total sales from now on. And that’s for now. The forecast is to reach 20% by the end of this decade. What the numbers say. It may seem like a strange twist, but the figures show that it makes quite a bit of sense. The Japanese birth rate is collapsing while pets have been gaining weight in homes. According to the Japan Pet Food Association, between 2024 and 2025 the country’s dog population rose from 6.7 to 6.8 million. It is still below the 7.9 of 2015, although in general the country is now less populated. If we talk about cats, the association estimates that at the end of 2025 there were 8.8 million. They are somewhat less than in 2024, but more than in 2015, when they did not reach 8.3. “The second largest city”. “Japan was the first country in the world where pets outnumbered children: about 16 million compared to 14 million. If its 6.8 million dogs and 9 million cats were gathered in one place, they would form its second largest city,” illustrated in February Tom Feiling, author of ‘Alone in Japan’, in a column published in The Times. On an economic level, this means that the pet care market is already around 5.4 billion dollarswell above the 4.2 billion in 2020. But… Why? Japan is not the only country in which the number of pets already exceeds the number of children. In fact that’s the same we have lived it already in Spain, where the first official census speaks of 5.62 million of cats and 7.56 of dogs. The fact that the birth rate falls and the presence of domestic animals increases is explained by profound changes at a social, cultural, educational and educational level. “Lifestyle changes, such as remaining single, marrying late, and the rise of two-income childless households, have led to more people seeking emotional connections through pets. We are seeing a rise in ‘pet humanization,’” resume Isshu Uehara, from Unicharm. Companies seem to be taking note of this. Images | Unicharm and Luckynu_i In Xataka | Spain has more pets than children, so Malaga has inaugurated something inevitable: the first cemetery for dogs