New Delhi, July 30 -- Japan's population crisis has reached another grim milestone. The number of Japanese nationals living in the country has fallen below 120 million for the first time since comparable records began 42 years ago, according to government data released on Wednesday.

As of January 1, the population of Japanese residents stood at 119.74 million, down 0.76% from a year earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said, according to AFP. The population has been shrinking continuously since peaking in 2009.

The latest figures highlight the scale of the demographic challenge facing the world's fourth-largest economy, even after decades of government efforts aimed at encouraging people to marry and have more ch...