Danica Davidson
August 12, 2025 
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has been keeping tabs on demographics since 1968, and this year’s survey shows that Japan’s population is decreasing while its foreign population is increasing.
On January 1, 2025, there were 120,653,227 Japanese people living in Japan. Last year, there were 908,000 more Japanese people living in their home country. Tokyo is the single prefecture that saw its numbers go up.
This isn’t a new trend. For the past 16 straight years Japan has seen a drop in its population, as more people are dying than being born. The survey said this year saw an estimated 1.59 million deaths compared to an estimated 680,000 births.
The survey found about 3,677,463 foreigners living in Japan, which is about 354,000 more foreigners than the previous year. The foreigners living in Japan had a much higher birth rate than death rate — the survey said there were 9,073 deaths compared to 22,738 births. Almost three percent of Japan’s population now consists of non-Japanese people.
5.15 % of Tokyoites are foreigners, but you can also find examples of rural communities with a strong presence of foreign people. For example, in Gunma Prefecture’s Oizumi-machi, which has a population of about 42,000, every fifth person is from another country.
Most of the foreigners are between the ages of 15 and 64, and it’s likely that many of them are there as workers. Because of Japan’s decreasing population, they’re looking toward more foreign workers to fill in the gaps.
The number of Japanese deaths broke records for its highest numbers yet, while the number of births broke records in the opposite direction, with the fewest births on record since this survey started. The number of foreigners living in Japan also broke records by having more than ever before.
The way things are going, Japan will probably have fewer than 120 million Japanese people in 2026.
Source: SoraNews24
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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