Japan's population declined by a record 0.22 percent to 127,515,000 as of October 2012, marking the largest fall since such comparable data became available in 1950, local media reported Tuesday.

The figure was released by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and showed that people aged 65 or above broke 30 million threshold for the first time, reported Japan's Kyodo News Agency.

The decline of 284,000 in the total population also includes foreigners, said Kyodo, adding it was the second year in a row that the population has fallen.

The decrease was attributed to a higher death rate and the increase of foreign nationals who left Japan after the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

The figure, which covered a one-year period from October 2011, also showed people aged 65 or above hit a record high of 24.1 percent of the total population.

The decline occurred in 40 of Japan's 47 prefectures, and Fukushima that suffered from a nuclear disaster due to the 2011 tsunami ranked the first with a plunge of 1.41 percent. Endi

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