With Declining Birth Rate Japan’s Diaper Makers Search for Adult Market

Diaper manufacturers in Japan have reduced or stopped their production for babies because of Japan’s plummeting birth rate. These diaper manufacturers are instead trying to increase their sale of adult diapers.

Oji Holdings, a diaper producing company in Japan decided to stop domestic output of infant diapers in September 2023, as its production dropped from a 2001 peak of around 700 million annually to 400 million today.

The number of births in Japan dropped to a new low in 2023. In Japan, births in 2023 fell for the eighth consecutive year to 758,631, a drop of 5.1 percent, preliminary data showed in February.So, the Oji Holdings has decided to increase production of the sanitary items for adults in the country, anticipating their use mainly in facilities like nursing homes and by the aging Japanese populace.

Japan has the world’s oldest population after Monaco, and the market for adult diapers is “expected to grow domestically,” the company said in a statement.

Oji Holdings, would however “maintain and expand” baby diaper production and sales overseas, including in Indonesia and Malaysia.