TOKYO, July 28 (UPI) -- Japan's male population decreased 10,680, the first yearly decline since the survey was introduced in 1968.
The survey, conducted by Japan's Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, showed that the male population was 62, 076,658, down 0.02 percent from a year earlier even though total population stood at 126,869,397 as of March 31, up a mere 0.04 percent from a year earlier.
The rate of increase in the total population also was a record low, heralding the arrival of a society with a declining population, which will greatly affect the nation's economic growth and social security system, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Thursday.
The number of births for 2004 stood at 1,104,062. The natural increase in population stood at 52,980. Both figures were the lowest since comparable surveys began in 1979.
The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research predicts that the male population will decrease by about 8,000 from a year earlier as of Oct. 1. But the survey showed that it had started declining six months earlier than predicted, and that the difference between the estimation and the actual figure was larger than expected. This led the institute to say the speed of the decline in the population might be faster than first predicted.
