TOKYO - Japan's population has seen the slowest growth since 1920, standing at 128,056,026 as of October 1, 2010, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Friday.

According to the ministry, the population did in fact rise 0.2 percent, the equivalent of 288,000 people, from the previous census taken five years ago, but marked the slowest growth since the five-yearly census started 91 years ago.

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Japan, the world's 10th most populated country, is suffering from extremely low birthrates and an increasingly greying society.

But the ministry said that a moderate improvement in the birthrate contributed to the latest growth figures and that there is no significant change in the overall trend of population decline in the rapidly aging country.

The government survey noted that population increases were logged in only nine of Japan's 47 prefectures and the nation's capital, Tokyo, has become more densely populated with a rise in single-member households and those occupied by just elderly persons.

The ministry also reported that the number of households climbed 4.8 percent to 51,951,513 from the previous survey five years ago, rising above the 50 million level for the first time since records began.

However, the government survey showed that the average number of members per household sank to a record-low of 2.46.