German population shrinks, births lowest since WW2

BERLIN, Aug 16 (Reuters) Germany, which has one of the lowest birth rates in Europe, saw its population shrink last year as deaths outpaced births and the number of immigrants declined, the Federal Statistics Office said on Tuesday.

The office confirmed that the number of births in 2005 had fallen to 686,000, its lowest level since it began measuring in 1946.

More than 830,000 people died in Germany last year, it said, causing a net population decline of more than 144,000 -- a drop exceeded only once in the last quarter-century.

For the third straight year, immigration failed to make up the difference. The office released figures earier in the summer showing that net immigration -- the number of people moving to Germany minus those leaving -- fell to 78,953 last year, the lowest level since 1998.

Economists have warned that unless Germany's demographic trend is reversed, Europe's largest economy will go into terminal decline, with pensions and healthcare costs soaring as the average age gets higher and higher.

After a series of doom-and-gloom studies were released earlier this year, the government took action to encourage Germans to have more babies, passing a law which makes it easier for parents to take time off from work to take care of newborns.

But experts say the trend is very hard to reverse. To keep Germany's 83-million population steady, women in Germany need to have an estimated average of 2.1 babies. Last year, the average was below 1.4.

Reuters SKU RN0929