Japan's population continues to decline

Japan's population is continuing to decline with an increasingly graying society and low birthrate.

The health and welfare ministry says about one-million 69,000 children were born across Japan in 2009. That's down 22,000 babies from a year earlier.

One-million 144,000 people died in 2009, up 2,000 people from the previous year.
The ministry says the annual number of deaths has increased continuously since 2001.

This resulted in Japan's largest-ever natural population decline of 75,000. The number of deaths surpassed that of births for the 3rd straight year.

The ministry says the average number of children born per woman in her lifetime is likely to level off around the 2008 figure of 1.37.

The ministry says it expects Japan's population to remain on the decline as the population of women of productive age is decreasing while the society is rapidly aging.