Japan foreign population grows twice as fast as expected on worker influx

2 comments

1. Hi all! This is Emma from Nikkei Asia’s audience engagement team.

   Here’s an excerpt from the above article:

   *The number of foreign residents in Japan grew at double the government’s expected pace last year to a third straight record high of 3.77 million, data released Friday shows, with more talent coming in from South and Southeast Asia.*

   *The tally rose by about 358,000, or 10.5%, from the end of 2023, according to the Immigration Services Agency, for a total increase of roughly 1 million over the past three years.*

   *Population projections released in 2023 by Japan’s National Institute of Population and Social Security Research assumed annual inbound migration of roughly 165,000 people per year, with the non-Japanese population expected to exceed 10% of the total in 2067. But with births undershooting expectations, that milestone would be reached much sooner if the current pace continues.*

   *Much of the rise came from immigrants* [*moving to Japan for work*](https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Japan-immigration/Japan-logs-largest-ever-jump-in-foreign-workers)*. Residents with visas under the specified skilled worker program rose 36.5% from 2023, while highly skilled professionals were up 19.8%.*

   *By nationality, Vietnam accounted for the largest share of last year’s increase at 69,000, followed by Nepal at 57,000. Immigration from Myanmar jumped 55.5% on the year, with rises of 35.2% and 34% from Sri Lanka and Indonesia, respectively.*

2. This is very expected. Workers from Southeast Asia working low wage Japanese jobs for a higher salary to send remittances.

   Japan and South Korea I expect to have similar situations to Hong Kong and Singapore today, with using foreign workers to occupy the lower paying service and manual labor jobs.