In 2023, 9,836 people applied for naturalization in Japan. The number of applications for Japanese citizenship gradually declined over the past two decades.

As of the end of 2023, approximately 892,000 people of non-Japanese nationality were residing in Japan with a permanent resident permit, representing the highest proportion of all foreign residents. The second-highest share had a visa for technical intern training.

In 2023, 2,807 people from South and North Korea were naturalized as citizens of Japan. That year, a total of 8,800 individuals were granted Japanese nationality.

In 2023, over 2.9 million Asian residents were registered in Japan, making it the largest share of foreign residents. That year, the second-largest group of foreign nationals living in Japan came from South America, with about 278,000 people.

Historical dataset showing Japan immigration statistics by year from 1960 to 2015.

Japan Internal Migrants: Annual: Migration Rate data was reported at 3.930 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 3.900 % for 2016. Japan Internal Migrants: Annual: Migration Rate data is updated yearly, averaging 5.385 % from Dec 1954 (Median) to 2017, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 8.020 % in 1970 and a record low of 3.900 % in 2016. Japan Internal Migrants: Annual: Migration Rate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Statistical Bureau. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.G006: Vital Statistics: Migration.

Over 821,800 people of Chinese nationality lived in Japan as of the end of 2023, marking the highest number of migrant citizens. The Vietnamese residents in the country exceeded 565,000 in the same period.

As of the end of 2023, over 318,400 men and 249,400 women of non-Japanese nationality with ages between 25 and 29 were residing in Japan. This age cohort exhibited the highest number of foreign residents among all age groups.

Japan Internal Migrants: Annual: Migration Rate: Male data was reported at 4.290 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 4.270 % for 2016. Japan Internal Migrants: Annual: Migration Rate: Male data is updated yearly, averaging 5.890 % from Dec 1959 (Median) to 2017, with 59 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 8.720 % in 1970 and a record low of 4.270 % in 2016. Japan Internal Migrants: Annual: Migration Rate: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Statistical Bureau. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.G006: Vital Statistics: Migration.

Japan Inter Prefectural Migrants: Annual: Migration Rate: Male data was reported at 2.090 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 2.080 % for 2016. Japan Inter Prefectural Migrants: Annual: Migration Rate: Male data is updated yearly, averaging 3.040 % from Dec 1959 (Median) to 2017, with 59 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4.680 % in 1970 and a record low of 2.060 % in 2014. Japan Inter Prefectural Migrants: Annual: Migration Rate: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Statistical Bureau. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.G006: Vital Statistics: Migration.

In 2023, 813 people were not granted the right to be naturalized as citizens of Japan. That year, 8,800 people newly received Japanese nationality.

Japan JP: International Migrant Stock: % of Population data was reported at 1.615 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.676 % for 2010. Japan JP: International Migrant Stock: % of Population data is updated yearly, averaging 1.463 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2015, with 6 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.676 % in 2010 and a record low of 0.880 % in 1990. Japan JP: International Migrant Stock: % of Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. International migrant stock is the number of people born in a country other than that in which they live. It also includes refugees. The data used to estimate the international migrant stock at a particular time are obtained mainly from population censuses. The estimates are derived from the data on foreign-born population--people who have residence in one country but were born in another country. When data on the foreign-born population are not available, data on foreign population--that is, people who are citizens of a country other than the country in which they reside--are used as estimates. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 people living in one of the newly independent countries who were born in another were classified as international migrants. Estimates of migrant stock in the newly independent states from 1990 on are based on the 1989 census of the Soviet Union. For countries with information on the international migrant stock for at least two points in time, interpolation or extrapolation was used to estimate the international migrant stock on July 1 of the reference years. For countries with only one observation, estimates for the reference years were derived using rates of change in the migrant stock in the years preceding or following the single observation available. A model was used to estimate migrants for countries that had no data.; ; United Nations Population Division, Trends in Total Migrant Stock: 2008 Revision.; Weighted average;

Japan gained 242,131 total inhabitants in 2023. The net migration in Japan recovered from a sharp decline in 2020 and 2021.

Japan Inter Prefectural Migrants: Annual: Migration Rate: Female data was reported at 1.590 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 1.570 % for 2016. Japan Inter Prefectural Migrants: Annual: Migration Rate: Female data is updated yearly, averaging 2.120 % from Dec 1959 (Median) to 2017, with 59 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.560 % in 1970 and a record low of 1.550 % in 2014. Japan Inter Prefectural Migrants: Annual: Migration Rate: Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Statistical Bureau. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.G006: Vital Statistics: Migration.

In 2024, approximately **** million residents of foreign nationality were registered in Japan, making up below ***** percent of the population. The total number of foreign residents increased by about ****million in the last decade. Development of immigration to Japan Except for a large minority of people of Korean descent who have lived in Japan since the first half of the twentieth century, immigration of people from other countries did not become an issue in Japan until the 1980s when the economy required more labor. A revision of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act in 1990 allowed people of Japanese descent, so-called "nikkeijin," to enter the country and work without restrictions. The nikkeijin who entered Japan in the years that followed mainly came from Brazil and other South American countries. Chinese immigration increased as well throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. A breakdown of foreign residents by major nationalities shows that ********immigrants overtook ******* as the largest minority group in 2007. People from ******* were the strongest growing minority in the 2010s. Recent immigration reform Due to its demographic changes, Japan has a relatively low unemployment rate. As a consequence, a large share of companies report labor shortages. The temporary immigration of foreign workers is considered one of the possible solutions to this problem, next to the increasing labor market participation of women and the elderly. In 2019, the Japanese government enacted a major immigration reform. The reform allowed lower- and semi-skilled workers to enter the country and work in one of 14 different industries suffering from a lack of labor. The vast majority of participants are not allowed to bring their family members and are expected to return to their respective countries after their terms in Japan end.

Japan had a net decrease of 474 male and 15,076 female Japanese nationals in 2022. Almost 40,000 female Japanese returned to the country in 2020.

Text A, Representation theorem for a right eigenvector of an irreducible non-negative matrix. Text B, Theorem for infinite series expansion of characteristic equation. Text C, Original definition of type-reproduction number. Text D, Extension theorem of type-reproduction number. (ZIP)

Japan Internal Migrants data was reported at 295,016.000 Person in Sep 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 352,992.000 Person for Aug 2018. Japan Internal Migrants data is updated monthly, averaging 370,918.000 Person from Jan 1998 (Median) to Sep 2018, with 249 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,093,542.000 Person in Mar 1998 and a record low of 283,724.000 Person in Nov 2014. Japan Internal Migrants data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Statistical Bureau. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.G006: Vital Statistics: Migration. Figures here exclude foreign migrants.

Japan Intra Prefectural Migrants: Annual data was reported at 2,606,271.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,605,636.000 Person for 2016. Japan Intra Prefectural Migrants: Annual data is updated yearly, averaging 3,345,947.000 Person from Dec 1954 (Median) to 2017, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4,304,482.000 Person in 1973 and a record low of 2,605,636.000 Person in 2016. Japan Intra Prefectural Migrants: Annual data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Statistical Bureau. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.G006: Vital Statistics: Migration.

Japan had a net increase of 240,205 foreign nationals in 2023, while it gained 1,926 Japanese nationals. That year, the net increase of the total inhabitants of Japan was 242,131.