HAVANA � Cuba�s population declined in 2006 for the first time in 25 years due to fewer births, the Communist Party newspaper Granma said yesterday.

The Cuban population dropped last year by about 4,300 to 11,239,536 inhabitants, according to official statistics.

The number of births dropped to 111,084 in 2006 from 120,716 a year earlier, an 8 per cent decline, the country�s top demographic expert, Juan Carlos Alfonso, told Granma.

Cuba�s populace is aging fast and there is a marked rise in the number of people aged 60 and over compared to other age groups, Alfonso said.

Women are deciding to have fewer children, said Alfonso, director of population studies at the National Statistics Office.

On average, Cuban families tend to have only one child. The country has faced economic hardships and overcrowded housing since it lost the support of the Soviet Union 15 years ago.

The government traces the falling birth rate to its policy of providing free contraceptives, mainly condoms, which are used by 70 per cent of Cubans aged 15 to 44.

Rising life expectancy � now at 77 years � has given Cuba the demographics of the industrialised First World even though it is a Third World nation, officials say.