The population of Japanese nationals fell by 861,000 in 2023 from a year earlier to 121,561,801, marking the 15th consecutive year of decline and the largest drop since the survey began in 1968, government data showed Wednesday.

The trend underscores the seriousness of the declining birthrate and highlights the urgent need for the government to implement measures to revitalize regional areas.

 

As of Jan. 1, 2024, Japan's population, including foreign residents, stood at 124,885,175, down by roughly 532,000, according to a demographics survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

While foreign residents increased in all of the country's 47 prefectures, surpassing 3 million for the first time, only Tokyo saw a slight increase in its Japanese population, rising 0.03 percent due to the high influx of people to the capital.

A record low of 730,000 births in Japan, which was significantly exceeded by a record high 1.58 million deaths, contributed largely to the population decline.

By prefecture, Akita, Aomori and Iwate prefectures, all in northeastern Japan, experienced the largest population decreases at 1.83 percent, 1.72 percent and 1.61 percent, respectively.

The foreign population rose by 329,535 to 3,323,374 in the reporting year as the relaxation of strict COVID-19 border controls continued to facilitate the return of international students and technical interns.

Kumamoto Prefecture, where the world's largest contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. opened its first factory in Japan, saw the largest rate of foreign population growth at 24.18 percent.

Around 85 percent of foreign residents are of working age, providing support to Japan's labor market.

The overall population, including foreign residents, increased in the three prefectures of Tokyo, Chiba and Okinawa. The absence of cases where the number of births exceeded deaths indicates that the rise was largely due to immigration.

People aged 65 accounted for 29.38 percent of the Japanese population, up 0.23 percentage point, while the working population, or people between 15 and 64, declined slightly to 59.02 percent.