Japan fertility rate hits record low 1.25 in 2005

TOKYO, June 1 (Reuters) Japan's fertility rate -- the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime -- fell to an all-time low of 1.25 in 2005, the health ministry said today, the latest sign of the threat to the world's second-biggest economy from an ageing, shrinking population.

Japan's population declined last year for the first time since 1945. Experts had long predicted the shift, but it came two years earlier than forecast.

''It's an extremely tough figure,'' Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters, adding the need to cope with the problem.

''It will become one of the most important items on the policy agenda.'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, a front-running candidate in the race to succeed Koizumi when he steps down in September, highlighted the consequences of the low birth rate.

''The trend towards having fewer children will have grave impact on the economy and society as it slows economic growth, increases the burden for social security and taxes, and reduces the vitality of regional society,'' he told a news conference.

Japan's fertility rate slipped to 1.2888 in 2004. Demographers say a rate of 2.1 is needed to keep a population from declining.

Policy makers who once shied away from proposals to boost the birth rate for fear of echoing wartime nationalist propaganda have become more outspoken in recent years about the search for solutions.

''At the same time that we come up with appropriate support to enable people to raise children and work, I think it is also important to make people aware of the value of families and the of the joys of having children,'' Abe said.

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