Japanese Population Dips below 120 Million

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)--The number of Japanese people living in the country as of Jan. 1 fell below 120 million, logging the sharpest drop on record from a year before, the internal affairs ministry said Wednesday.

The number of Japanese residents fell by 916,744, or 0.76 pct, to 119,736,483, marking the 17th consecutive year of decline, the ministry said using resident registry data.

The data showed that the number of foreign residents in the country rose by 353,696, or 9.62 pct, to 4,031,159, the highest since the ministry started taking statistics for such residents in 2013.

The foreign population in Japan has been growing since 2023 following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of people who moved to the country from abroad reached a record high of 720,988 in 2025.

Among Japan's 47 prefectures, Tokyo reported an increase in Japanese residents for the third year in a row, rising by 12,540, or 0.09 pct, to 13,293,851, or 11.1 pct of the total Japanese population.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]