Japan birth rate off record low as economy improves

TOKYO, June 6 (Reuters) Japan's fertility rate edged off a record low last year as the economy improved, but the population was still set for a decline as the proportion of elderly people increased, the health ministry said today.

The fertility rate, or the average number of children a womanbears in her lifetime, stood at 1.32 in 2006, up for the first time in six years and off a record low of 1.26 in 2005.

The number of babies born last year came to 1,092,662, up 2.8 per cent from a year earlier.

''A recovery in the job market helped raise the number of marriages and that is thought to have raised the number of births,'' a ministry official said.

But the population is still in a downtrend as the nation ages, he said.

Japan's population now stands at around 128 million, with the world's highest proportion of old people and lowest proportion of young people.

Demographers say a fertility rate of 2.07 is needed to keep the population from falling, but Japan's rate has held below that level since 1974, raising concerns about the economy's growth potential and the government's mounting pension costs.

The health ministry report also showed the number of suicides fell by 2.2 per cent from 2005 to 29,887, the lowest since 2001.

The ministry declined to comment on the reasons behind the decline, but experts have said increases in suicides in the past have been linked to economic downturns.

There is no religious prohibition against suicide in Japan, while taking one's life has been seen as a way to escape failure or save loved ones from embarrassment or financial loss.

A cabinet minister embroiled in a political funding scandal hanged himself last week.

REUTERS KN ND1738