Germany's population expected to slip in 2004
WIESBADEN. In a development with long-term ramifications, the population in Germany continued to drop in 2004. Officials at the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said on Wednesday that the population would drop by 30,000 people to 82.5 million this year. The number of deaths exceeded the number of births by 110,000 in 2004, officials said. Over the long term, the drop in population could have a severe effect on the country's social service system because the pool of working people who finance the system with their salaries will be smaller. At the same time, the number of elderly people is expected to climb.

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