TOKYO - Japan's population including foreign residents fell by a record 3.10 million, or 2.5 percent, from 2020 to 123,049,524 last year, the latest census showed Friday, highlighting the demographic challenges facing the rapidly graying society.
The census, conducted every five years since 1920, showed that the total population declined for the third straight survey and that 30.1 percent was concentrated in the Tokyo metropolitan area as of Oct. 1, crossing the 30 percent threshold for the first time.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications attributed the decline to the country's graying population and the widening natural decrease, in which deaths outnumber births.
With the trend expected to continue, pressure is mounting on the government to devise policies for sustaining regional communities and the economy.
"It was confirmed again that the population decline is advancing even further," Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a press conference, pledging to "comprehensively promote various measures" to address the challenges of a falling population.
Kihara, the top government spokesman, also stressed the need to promote decentralization of people and businesses to regional areas to "correct the overconcentration in Tokyo."
By prefecture, the populations of Tokyo and Okinawa grew by 1.4 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively, while the nation's other 45 prefectures, including Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa in the metropolitan area around the capital, saw declines.
The ministry also said that the number of foreign residents was estimated at around 3.21 million, well above the record high of about 2.75 million in the finalized figures for the 2020 census.
According to U.N. population estimates for 2025, Japan is the world's 12th most populous country and accounts for 1.5 percent of the global total.
Among the top 20 most populated countries, Japan, China, Russia and Thailand recorded declines between 2020 and 2025, with Japan posting the steepest.
