By TAKURO CHIBA/ Staff Writer
January 31, 2024 at 19:02 JST
The 23 wards of Tokyo’s central area saw more newcomers than departures for the second consecutive year, fueling centralization. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Tokyo and the surrounding areas saw more people moving in than leaving in 2023, highlighting the growing demographic imbalance caused by centralization around the capital.
According to data released on Jan. 30 by the internal affairs ministry, 68,285 more people moved into the capital last year than moved out.
The gap between incomers and departures, or net migration, widened by more than 30,000 people over the previous year.
In the wider Tokyo metropolitan area, which includes Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures, the net migration was 126,515, up by 26,996.
That figure topped 100,000 for the first time since 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
In the 23 wards of central Tokyo, net migration increased for the second consecutive year. It rose by 32,479--the second highest year-to-year increase since comparable record-keeping began in 2014, exceeded only by 2022.
The data suggests the pandemic-driven migration from urban areas to the suburbs has slowed.
“The decline of regional areas will affect the overall strength of the nation, including Tokyo,” internal affairs minister Takeaki Matsumoto said on Jan. 30. “It is important to firmly support and revitalize regional communities.”
Aside from Tokyo, only six prefectures saw more people moving in than out: Kanagawa with a net migration of 28,606; Saitama with 24,839; Osaka with 10,792; Chiba with 4,785; Fukuoka with 4,387; and Shiga with 12.
By municipality, 511, or 29.7 percent, saw more newcomers than departures, compared to 1,208 municipalities where the opposite occurred.
Of those booming municipalities, the 23 wards in central Tokyo experienced the largest net migration with 53,899, followed by Osaka with 12,966 and Yokohama with 9,731.
Saitama saw the greatest net migration among children aged 14 and younger, with 988, followed by Machida, southwestern Tokyo, with 856, and Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, with 668.
For the 15 to 64 age group, the 23 wards in central Tokyo saw the largest net migration with 74,309, followed by Osaka with 16,171 and Yokohama with 10,200.
For those aged 65 and older, Sapporo topped the list with a net migration of 2,404, followed by Fukuoka with 722 and Saitama with 702.
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