The phrase "a much smaller decline" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when comparing the extent of a decrease in a particular context, such as statistics, economics, or any situation where a decline is being measured.
Example: "This year, we experienced a much smaller decline in sales compared to last year, which is a positive sign for our business."
Alternatives: "a significantly lesser drop" or "a considerably reduced decrease".
And South Korea reported that exports in June were 11.3percentt lower than a year earlier, a much smaller decline than the surprisingly poor 28.5percentt fall recorded in May.
Analysts were expecting a much smaller decline of just 0.1%.
Economists had predicted a much smaller decline of 2,000.
Referring to the job losses, he said: "This is a much smaller decline than the average decline of the last 18 months.
Sales fell 1percentt after dropping 0.8percentt in July, which was originally reported as a much smaller decline of 0.3percentt.
This is also a much smaller decline than the big dollar fall in the late 1980's, which was helped along by an agreement, known as the Plaza Accord, among America's allies to weaken the dollar.
While overall occupancy is expected to drop by 5.6percentt and luxury hotel occupancy by 8.3percentt, select-service occupancy is projected to end the year with a much smaller 3.7percentt decline.
Resistance exercise resulted in much smaller declines in blood glucose during exercise than aerobic exercise or no exercise in individuals with type 1 diabetes.
The Congressional Budget Office's new report on income inequality points out that growing Medicare costs are part of the reason upper-income retirees receive a larger share of federal spending than they did 30 years ago, while working-age households with children receive "a much smaller and declining share of transfers".
If the opinion surveys are right, he will be returned to office in the election today with a much smaller majority, a decline ascribed to the broad sense of disaffection stemming from his handling of the war in Iraq.
It found poverty declining among Latinos, though by a much smaller amount than it declined among blacks.
