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TOKYO, Dec 27 (Reuters): Japan's population as of Oct. 1 declined slightly from a year earlier, a national census showed Tuesday, fuelling concerns that a shrinking population could threaten the long-term health of the economy.
Japan's ageing population and falling birthrate could eventually deal a heavy blow to the world's second-largest economy, with fewer people working to support an increasing number of pensioners.
Recent data had suggested that Japan's population may have started falling this year, two years earlier than previously forecast by Japan's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.
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