Japan’s Population Falls by Three Million in Five Years

A Third Successive Decline

Japan’s demographic decline continues unabated. The country’s population stood at 123,049,524 as of October 1, 2025, a decrease of 3.1 million compared with five years earlier. The preliminary figures for the 2025 census, including both Japanese and non-Japanese residents, were announced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. National censuses have been conducted every five years since 1920, with the first decline recorded in 2015. This was followed by further decreases in 2020 and 2025, with the latter as the largest to date. The rate of decline rose from 0.7% in 2020 to 2.5% in 2025.

Meanwhile, the number of households increased by 2.3% to 57.1 million, which is a new high. At 2.15, the average number of household members is at its lowest point since comparable records began in 1970.

Of Japan’s 47 prefectures, only Tokyo and Okinawa saw their populations increase. The population decreased in six prefectures that saw rises in the 2020 census including Aichi (from +0.8% to -1.2%), Saitama (from +1.1% to -0.8%), and Fukuoka (from +0.7% to -1.0%). Elsewhere the rates of decrease grew in 39 prefectures, including Shimane (from -3.3% to -6.2%), Shizuoka (from -1.8% to -4.5%), and Hiroshima (from -1.6% to -4.2%).

Tokyo had the largest population at 14,246,219, accounting for 11.6% of the total. The Tokyo metropolitan area combining Tokyo and the neighboring prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba, had a population of 37.0 million, or 30.1% of the national population. With the addition of Aichi, Osaka, Hyōgo, and Fukuoka, the top eight prefectures had a population of 63.6 million, which is more than half of the national total. Tottori had the smallest population at 523,732, which is 27 times smaller than that of Tokyo.

Data Sources

• Short and longer summary of 2025 census data (Japanese) from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © PhotoAC.)