The amount of funds raised by political entities in 2002 fell 11 percent from the previous year to 287.9 billion yen, according to a Kyodo News tally released Tuesday.

It is the first time the figure has fallen below 300 billion yen since 1987.

Company donations to political parties and their local chapters fell to 17.3 billion yen, the lowest figure since the news agency started making its calculations in 1983.

This figure also marks a 16.7 percent decrease from 2001.

Donations by individuals dropped for the third straight year to 40.6 billion yen, down 5.9 percent from a year earlier.

The decrease is thought to be tied to the prolonged economic slump, along with the absence of any major national elections in 2002.

Local political organizations, whose activities are limited to a single prefecture, had submitted their political funding reports to the relevant prefectural election administration committees by Tuesday.

According to these reports, funds raised by the local chapters of the main political parties and by regional political bodies in all 47 prefectures in 2002 stood at 152.9 billion yen, down 8.7 percent from the previous year.

According to reports released by the government in September, the amount of funds collected last year by political parties and bodies active in more than one prefecture stood at 135 billion yen.

Combining the two figures, the total reported amount of political funds for 2002 stood at 287.9 billion yen, while the total amount spent by political parties and organizations in the year stood at 273 billion yen, down 17.2 percent from the previous year.