A total of 549,255 babies were registered at municipal offices in the first half of this year, an increase by 11,618 from the same period last year, according to the ministry's figures.

The nation's overall fertility rate, or the average number of children born to a woman aged between 15 and 49, which hit a record low of 1.25 last year, could turn upward in 2006 if the trend in the number of births continues, an official at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said.

The ministry said an increase in the percentage of married people in their 30s contributed to the increase in the total number of marriages and births.

The number of deaths in the six-month period, which was high last year due to effects of influenza, dropped this year by 4,589 to 564,082.

The natural population increase, derived by subtracting the number of deaths from births in the one-year period up to June, was 11,846.

"We cannot conclude with these results and say that birthrates (in Japan) have stopped falling," said Ryuichi Kaneko, a researcher at the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

The Japan Times Weekly: Aug. 26, 2006
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