Photo/Illutration Commuters in a passageway at Tokyo’s Shinagawa train station on the morning of Oct. 1, the day after the government lifted a COVID state of emergency. (Yosuke Fukudome)

Japan’s population declined over five years by nearly one million to reach 126,146,099 as of Oct. 1, 2020, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, citing the results of the national census taken that year.

The latest tally, which includes resident foreign nationals, was released Nov. 30. It shows that there were 948,646 fewer inhabitants compared with the previous census in 2015, representing a 0.7-percent decrease. 

It marked the second consecutive decrease in population as measured by censuses.

The number of Japanese nationals living in the country stood at approximately 123,399,000, down about 1,783,000 from five years ago, or 1.4 percent lower.

However, the number of foreign nationals living in Japan came to a record 2,747,000, up about 835,000 from 2015, or 43.6 percent more.

Chinese comprise the biggest share among foreign nationals at about 667,000, followed by ethnic Koreans, about 375,000, and Vietnamese, about 321,000.

The number of people aged under 15 stood at approximately 15,032,000, or 11.9 percent of the total, which is among the lowest ratios in the world.

In contrast, the number of people aged 65 or over stood at a record 36,027,000, or 28.6 percent of the total population, marking a continuous increase.

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