The number of Japanese children aged 15 or below has hit a post-World War II record low of 18.01 million as the country's birthrate continues to decline, according to a report published yesterday.

　　As of April 1, Japan had 170,000 fewer children than a year earlier, the Statistics Bureau said in a survey. It was the 22nd straight year of decline in the nation's child population. The report attributed the decline to Japan's falling birthrate since the 1970s.