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Culture & Society
Japan's population declined by approximately 3.09 million between 2020 and 2025, marking the largest decrease recorded in the country's census history.
Minoru Kihara, Secretary General of the Japanese Cabinet, announced that Japan's population has decreased by more than three million people over the past five years, representing the largest decline recorded according to census results.
Preliminary data from the 2025 census, released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, indicate that Japan's population reached 123,049,524, reflecting a reduction of about 3.09 million compared to the 2020 census.
During a press conference, Kihara stated that this marks the third consecutive population decline since the 2015 census, with a decrease rate of 2.5%, the highest recorded so far, underscoring the deepening demographic crisis in the country.
Conversely, the population of the Greater Tokyo area—which includes Tokyo and the prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba—increased to 36,986,000, up by 71,000 from the previous census.
Kihara emphasized the ongoing trend of population concentration in the Tokyo region, stressing the importance of encouraging the distribution of residents and businesses to other areas to reduce excessive centralization in the capital.
He added that the Japanese government will continue implementing comprehensive measures to address the population decline, which include supporting birth rates, providing employment opportunities in regional areas, developing local economies, and increasing income for younger generations.
