The phrase "a marginal decline" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a small or slight decrease in a particular metric or value.
Example: "The company reported a marginal decline in sales compared to the previous quarter."
Alternatives: "a slight decrease" or "a minor drop".
The findings appear to mark a turnaround from the previous survey, which had found a marginal decline in forests.
Photoluminescence measurements have shown a marginal decline in residual stress and significant increase in density of the laser treated coatings.
Males demonstrated higher levels of NK cytolytic activity than females; a marginal decline in activity with age was observed.
Continuing investment in new products across Emap's divisions, mainly in digital development, led to a marginal decline in underlying operating profit to £76.3 million (2010 £78.3 million).
The company put this improvement down to 32% year-on-year growth in digital revenue in the final two months of 2013, along with growth in printing and "other" income substantially offsetting a marginal decline in circulation and print advertising.
Analysts trimmed annual profits forecasts by between 2% and 3% as ABF said it expected a "marginal decline" in profits for the group as a whole this year as a "large reduction" in profits at its sugar business was offset by growth at Primark and its grocery, ingredients and agriculture divisions.
It states at a glance, the rise in a number of mappers from 8 to 64 leads to a very marginal decline in classification accuracy.
Even in China, the country responsible for the bulk of the depletion of global inventories over the past few years, only a relatively marginal decline is expected this year following the good 2004 harvest.
As a sensitivity analysis, the stable and marginal decline groups were combined, and HRU outcomes were compared between this combined group and the significant decline group (See Appendix), i.e., FVC% decline <10%% vs. FVC% decline ≥10%%.
In the stable and marginal decline groups, mortality due to a suspected AEx was similar to all-cause and IPF-related mortality, indicating that suspected AEx was likely the main driver of mortality in these groups.
Widening inequities suggest that the marginal decline in TFR observed is due to a decrease in TFR among the non-poor.
