Japan's Population Drops by Over 860,000 Last Year... Foreign Residents Surpass 3 Million

15 Consecutive Years of Decline with Record Largest Decrease

Last year, Japan's population decreased by approximately 860,000, marking the largest decline on record. This downward trend has continued for 15 consecutive years.

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According to Kyodo News and others on the 24th, based on the Basic Resident Register survey conducted by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, as of January 1 this year, Japan's population was 121.56 million, down 861,000 from the previous year. This is the largest decline since the survey began in 1968.

Japan's population peaked at 127 million in 2009 and has decreased for 15 consecutive years up to this year. The rate of decline is accelerating.

Last year, the number of deaths reached a record high of 1.579 million, while the number of births was the lowest ever at 729,000. Earlier, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced in the '2023 Population Dynamics Statistics' released last month that Japan's total fertility rate (the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime) was 1.20, the lowest since related statistics began in 1947.

On the other hand, the number of foreigners living in Japan exceeded 3 million for the first time. The foreign population increased by 329,000 (11%) compared to January 1 last year, reaching a record high of 3.323 million.

By region, among the 47 prefectures, only three metropolitan areas?the Tokyo Metropolis, Chiba Prefecture, and Okinawa Prefecture?saw an increase in total population. When counting only Japanese nationals excluding foreigners, Tokyo was the only area where the population increased.