Japan’s population has dropped for the 15th consecutive year, while the number of foreign residents in the country has hit a record high.
The Internal Affairs Ministry says the number of people living in Japan as of January 1 this year was just over 124.885 million, a decline of about 531,700, or 0.42 percent, from a year ago.
Tokyo had the largest population of some 13.9 million, followed by neighboring Kanagawa Prefecture with 9.2 million, Osaka Prefecture with 8.7 million and Aichi Prefecture with 7.5 million.
Tottori Prefecture had the smallest population of about 540,200, while neighboring Shimane Prefecture had the second fewest, with about 650,600.
The population grew year-on-year in Tokyo, Okinawa and Chiba, while it declined in the 44 other prefectures.
The number of Japanese residents was just over 121.561 million, down about 861,200, or 0.7 percent, from last year.
Both the population decrease and the rate of decline were the largest since the survey began in 1968.
Japan’s population has been declining for 15 straight years since peaking at 127 million in 2009.
The number of Japanese born in the country last year was about 729,300, the lowest since the survey began in 1979, while the number of deaths was the highest, at over 1.579 million.
As a result, the natural population decline reached a record high of 850,360.
The number of foreigners living in Japan was more than 3.323 million, up some 329,500, or 11.01 percent, from the previous year.
The total exceeded 3 million for the first time, and both the increase in the number of foreigners and the rate of growth were the largest ever.