The population of Japanese citizens has experienced its fastest decline ever, while the number of foreign residents has reached a record high of nearly 3 million people, according to government data released on Wednesday.
This data highlights the increasing role of foreign nationals in Japanese society as the domestic population continues to shrink.
The number of Japanese nationals decreased for the 14th consecutive year, with a decrease of about 800,000 people, bringing the total population to 122.42 million as of January 1, 2023, according to data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
The data also revealed that the number of Japanese residents decreased in all 47 prefectures, resulting in an overall population decline to 125.41 million people, a decrease of approximately 511,000.
Japan’s population reached its peak in 2008 and has been declining since then due to its low birth rate, which hit a record low last year.
The number of foreign nationals residing in Japan was 2.99 million people as of January 1, marking a 10.7% increase from the previous year, according to the data. This year-on-year increase is the largest since the internal ministry began tracking non-Japanese residents a decade ago.
Tokyo is home to the largest share of foreign residents, accounting for 4.2% of the population, or 581,112 people. The capital city also experienced the highest increase in the non-Japanese population last year.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has prioritized reversing the country’s declining birth rate, with plans to allocate 3.5 trillion yen ($24.84 billion) per year on child care and other measures to support parents, despite Japan’s high levels of debt.
(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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