German birth rate lowest since 1946
New data shows Germany is bottom of the world's birth rate rankings.
There were between 680,000 - 690,000 births in Germany in 2005 - among the lowest birth rate per woman in the European Union and the lowest total since 1946.
A separate study by the Berlin Institute for Population and Development put Germany last in the global rankings of births per citizen and predicted the trend would accelerate in coming decades.
Economists warn that, unless the decrease is reversed; Europe's largest economy will go into terminal decline, with pensions and health care costs soaring as the average age gets higher and higher.
The average age in German is 42 compared with 24 in India for example.