Photo/Illutration Foreign technical intern trainees work at a fish processing factory in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, in February. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The nation's population declined for the ninth consecutive year in 2019, falling at a record pace.

Figures released April 14 by the internal affairs ministry show that the estimated overall population, including foreign nationals, stood at 126.167 million, down 276,000 people, or 0.22 percent, from a year earlier as of Oct. 1.

The number and percentage of the drop are both record highs since comparable data became available in 1950.

By age group, the number of those under 15 was 15.21 million, accounting for 12.1 percent of the population. Those aged between 15 and 64 stood at 75.072 million, or 59.5 percent.

The figures for both age groups are the lowest on record.

The number of those aged 65 or older was 35.885 million, making up 28.4 percent of the population. Those aged 75 or older stood at 18.49 million, or 14.7 percent.

Both age groups are at record highs.

The population of Japanese nationals continues to wane. It fell by 487,000 people to 123.731 million, marking the ninth straight yearly drop.

However, foreign nationals residing in Japan reached a record 2.436 million, up 211,000 from the previous year.

An official from the ministry’s Statistics Bureau said the number of foreign nationals increased partly due to a new visa system introduced in April 2019 to bring in more foreign workers to ease a chronic labor shortage.

The latest figure also includes the population of those born in the current imperial era, Reiwa, which began on May 1, 2019, for the first time. The number stood at 380,000, accounting for 0.3 percent of the total population.

The number of those born in the Meiji Era (1868-1912) and the Taisho Era (1912-1926) was 1.141 million, or 0.9 percent of the total, falling below 1 percent.

By prefecture, Tokyo’s population increased by 0.71 percent, the highest among the nation’s 47 prefectures.

Forty prefectures saw their population counts dwindle. Akita Prefecture’s population shrank the most, by 1.48 percent.