On 4th August, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications reported that Japan's population had declined by 3,505 to 127,055,025 as of 31st March. This is the first year-on-year decline since surveys started in 1968.

The survey was based on resident registers, and compares with the national census that included foreign residents of 127,760,000 as of 1st October 2005.

The figures also show that the number of households increased to a record 51,102,005, with a record average low of 2.49 individuals per household.

Tokyo's population increased the most, followed by Kanagawa Prefecture and Osaka as people continue to flow into the Tokyo metropolitan area.

The population decline of 3,505 was lower than the natural decrease due to repatriation, but total figures were reduced in part by the terrible burden of suicides.

Since 1998, the number of suicides has been over 30,000 a year, more than three times the rate of traffic accident deaths and the highest among industrialized nations.

The fall in average life expectancy in Japan last year, 0.1 year for women and 0.11 for men, is reflected in that two-thirds of suicides are men.