The government said Tuesday it will cut the number of national-level civil servants by 33,230, or at least 10 percent of the total as of the end of fiscal 2004, over the next five years, officials said.

The plan includes cutting 5,549 jobs for fiscal 2005, which has already been approved, and a total of 27,681 from fiscal 2006 to 2009, the officials said.

But the plan does not take into account the projected personnel increases in agencies such as regional immigration bureaus, prisons, and customs and taxation offices.

The government will draft a separate personnel reduction plan next month that factors in the increases, the officials added.

About 332,000 government employees, excluding members of the Self-Defense Forces, will be subject to the cutback.

The move is in line with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's resolve to carry out structural reforms and is seen as a key policy objective of his Cabinet together with the privatization of Japan Post.

However, the individual ministries and agencies are not expected to agree to cuts without a fight, and a fierce tug of war is expected, according to government sources.

Compared with the amount of personnel as of the end of fiscal 2005, the percentage of reduction would be largest for the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, at 10.4 percent, or 3,129 jobs, followed by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, at 10.3 percent, or 5,698 jobs.

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry and the Defense Agency would each take a hit of 8.5 percent, which translates into 442 and 1,993 jobs, respectively.

The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy proposed Sept. 27 cutting the number of state bureaucrats by more than 5 percent on a net basis over the next five years.