Residents at 31 December 2025 · Published 10 August 2026

Four million foreign residents in Japan, 2012–2025

Japan counted 4,125,395 foreign residents at the end of 2025, above four million for the first time. Technical intern training added 23 people that year; specified skilled worker added 105,830.

4,125,395foreign residents in Japan at the end of 2025, the first count above four million+356,418 on a year earlier (+9.5%) · 2,571,037 foreign workers were counted at 31 October 2025

Source: Statistics on Foreign Residents in Japan, end of 2025: tables 1, 3, 4 and 6

01

What the count includes, and why it is larger than the worker figure

4,125,395 people held a residence status in Japan at the end of 2025. Ten weeks earlier the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare counted 2,571,037 foreign workers. Both figures are correct.

The Immigration Services Agency counts everyone holding a mid- to long-term residence status or special permanent residence on the reference date. Employment is not part of the definition, so the total includes 464,784 people on a student status, 352,875 dependants and 947,125 permanent residents, among them children and retired people. It excludes short-stay visitors, anyone without a valid residence status, and the diplomatic and official categories.

The employment figure is assembled the other way round. Employers file a notification for each foreign employee and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare adds those notifications up, on a reference date of 31 October. A student working part-time is in both counts; a five-year-old on a dependent status is in this one only. The 1,554,358 difference between the two is the distance between the definitions, not an error in either, and the two series are never counted on the same day.

Read the companion story on foreign workers →

02

Above four million for the first time

The count rose by 356,418 during 2025, or 9.5%. It crossed four million between the end of June, when the agency counted 3,956,619, and the end of December.

The series has fallen only twice since 2012, in the two closed-border years: 2,933,137 at the end of 2019, then 2,887,116, then 2,760,635. It recovered the whole loss in 2022 and has added roughly a third of a million people in each of the three years since.

The four million is two groups moving in opposite directions. 3,858,499 people hold a mid- to long-term status, and that number has risen every year since 2021. 266,896 hold special permanent residence — the status of people from Korea and Taiwan who lost Japanese nationality in 1952, and their descendants — and that number has fallen every year, from 304,430 at the end of 2020.

What the total is made of, by nationality and by residence status

Every nationality stacked to the national total, or every residence status stacked to the mid- to long-term half they add up to. The ten largest nationalities and the fifteen largest residence statuses are drawn as bands and everything else combined; both breakdowns run from 2012.

Nationality · 2025: 4,125,395 · the bands sum to all foreign residents

1m2m3m4m020122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025930,428681,100407,341356,579300,992266,069210,014182,567637,921China: 652,595 (32.1%) · 2012China: 649,078 (31.4%) · 2013China: 654,777 (30.9%) · 2014China: 665,847 (29.8%) · 2015China: 695,522 (29.2%) · 2016China: 730,890 (28.5%) · 2017China: 764,720 (28.0%) · 2018China: 813,675 (27.7%) · 2019China: 778,112 (27.0%) · 2020China: 716,606 (26.0%) · 2021China: 761,563 (24.8%) · 2022China: 821,838 (24.1%) · 2023China: 873,286 (23.2%) · 2024China: 930,428 (22.6%) · 2025Vietnam: 52,367 (2.6%) · 2012Vietnam: 72,256 (3.5%) · 2013Vietnam: 99,865 (4.7%) · 2014Vietnam: 146,956 (6.6%) · 2015Vietnam: 199,990 (8.4%) · 2016Vietnam: 262,405 (10.2%) · 2017Vietnam: 330,835 (12.1%) · 2018Vietnam: 411,968 (14.0%) · 2019Vietnam: 448,053 (15.5%) · 2020Vietnam: 432,934 (15.7%) · 2021Vietnam: 489,312 (15.9%) · 2022Vietnam: 565,026 (16.6%) · 2023Vietnam: 634,361 (16.8%) · 2024Vietnam: 681,100 (16.5%) · 2025South Korea: 489,431 (24.1%) · 2012South Korea: 481,249 (23.3%) · 2013South Korea: 465,477 (21.9%) · 2014South Korea: 457,772 (20.5%) · 2015South Korea: 453,096 (19.0%) · 2016South Korea: 450,663 (17.6%) · 2017South Korea: 449,634 (16.5%) · 2018South Korea: 446,364 (15.2%) · 2019South Korea: 426,908 (14.8%) · 2020South Korea: 409,855 (14.8%) · 2021South Korea: 411,312 (13.4%) · 2022South Korea: 410,156 (12.0%) · 2023South Korea: 409,238 (10.9%) · 2024South Korea: 407,341 (9.9%) · 2025Philippines: 202,985 (10.0%) · 2012Philippines: 209,183 (10.1%) · 2013Philippines: 217,585 (10.3%) · 2014Philippines: 229,595 (10.3%) · 2015Philippines: 243,662 (10.2%) · 2016Philippines: 260,553 (10.2%) · 2017Philippines: 271,289 (9.9%) · 2018Philippines: 282,798 (9.6%) · 2019Philippines: 279,660 (9.7%) · 2020Philippines: 276,615 (10.0%) · 2021Philippines: 298,740 (9.7%) · 2022Philippines: 322,046 (9.4%) · 2023Philippines: 341,518 (9.1%) · 2024Philippines: 356,579 (8.6%) · 2025Nepal: 24,071 (1.2%) · 2012Nepal: 31,537 (1.5%) · 2013Nepal: 42,346 (2.0%) · 2014Nepal: 54,775 (2.5%) · 2015Nepal: 67,470 (2.8%) · 2016Nepal: 80,038 (3.1%) · 2017Nepal: 88,951 (3.3%) · 2018Nepal: 96,824 (3.3%) · 2019Nepal: 95,982 (3.3%) · 2020Nepal: 97,109 (3.5%) · 2021Nepal: 139,393 (4.5%) · 2022Nepal: 176,336 (5.2%) · 2023Nepal: 233,043 (6.2%) · 2024Nepal: 300,992 (7.3%) · 2025Indonesia: 25,532 (1.3%) · 2012Indonesia: 27,214 (1.3%) · 2013Indonesia: 30,210 (1.4%) · 2014Indonesia: 35,910 (1.6%) · 2015Indonesia: 42,850 (1.8%) · 2016Indonesia: 49,982 (2.0%) · 2017Indonesia: 56,346 (2.1%) · 2018Indonesia: 66,860 (2.3%) · 2019Indonesia: 66,832 (2.3%) · 2020Indonesia: 59,820 (2.2%) · 2021Indonesia: 98,865 (3.2%) · 2022Indonesia: 149,101 (4.4%) · 2023Indonesia: 199,824 (5.3%) · 2024Indonesia: 266,069 (6.4%) · 2025Brazil: 190,609 (9.4%) · 2012Brazil: 181,317 (8.8%) · 2013Brazil: 175,410 (8.3%) · 2014Brazil: 173,437 (7.8%) · 2015Brazil: 180,923 (7.6%) · 2016Brazil: 191,362 (7.5%) · 2017Brazil: 201,865 (7.4%) · 2018Brazil: 211,677 (7.2%) · 2019Brazil: 208,538 (7.2%) · 2020Brazil: 204,879 (7.4%) · 2021Brazil: 209,430 (6.8%) · 2022Brazil: 211,840 (6.2%) · 2023Brazil: 211,907 (5.6%) · 2024Brazil: 210,014 (5.1%) · 2025Myanmar: 8,046 (0.4%) · 2012Myanmar: 8,600 (0.4%) · 2013Myanmar: 10,252 (0.5%) · 2014Myanmar: 13,737 (0.6%) · 2015Myanmar: 17,775 (0.7%) · 2016Myanmar: 22,519 (0.9%) · 2017Myanmar: 26,456 (1.0%) · 2018Myanmar: 32,049 (1.1%) · 2019Myanmar: 35,049 (1.2%) · 2020Myanmar: 37,246 (1.3%) · 2021Myanmar: 56,239 (1.8%) · 2022Myanmar: 86,546 (2.5%) · 2023Myanmar: 134,574 (3.6%) · 2024Myanmar: 182,567 (4.4%) · 2025Sri Lanka: 8,428 (0.4%) · 2012Sri Lanka: 9,193 (0.4%) · 2013Sri Lanka: 10,741 (0.5%) · 2014Sri Lanka: 13,152 (0.6%) · 2015Sri Lanka: 17,346 (0.7%) · 2016Sri Lanka: 23,348 (0.9%) · 2017Sri Lanka: 25,410 (0.9%) · 2018Sri Lanka: 27,367 (0.9%) · 2019Sri Lanka: 29,290 (1.0%) · 2020Sri Lanka: 28,986 (1.0%) · 2021Sri Lanka: 37,251 (1.2%) · 2022Sri Lanka: 46,949 (1.4%) · 2023Sri Lanka: 63,472 (1.7%) · 2024Sri Lanka: 79,128 (1.9%) · 2025Taiwan: 22,775 (1.1%) · 2012Taiwan: 33,324 (1.6%) · 2013Taiwan: 40,197 (1.9%) · 2014Taiwan: 48,723 (2.2%) · 2015Taiwan: 52,768 (2.2%) · 2016Taiwan: 56,724 (2.2%) · 2017Taiwan: 60,684 (2.2%) · 2018Taiwan: 64,773 (2.2%) · 2019Taiwan: 55,872 (1.9%) · 2020Taiwan: 51,191 (1.9%) · 2021Taiwan: 57,294 (1.9%) · 2022Taiwan: 64,663 (1.9%) · 2023Taiwan: 70,147 (1.9%) · 2024Taiwan: 73,256 (1.8%) · 2025Other: 356,817 (17.5%) · 2012Other: 363,494 (17.6%) · 2013Other: 374,971 (17.7%) · 2014Other: 392,285 (17.6%) · 2015Other: 411,420 (17.3%) · 2016Other: 433,364 (16.9%) · 2017Other: 454,903 (16.7%) · 2018Other: 478,782 (16.3%) · 2019Other: 462,820 (16.0%) · 2020Other: 445,394 (16.1%) · 2021Other: 515,814 (16.8%) · 2022Other: 556,491 (16.3%) · 2023Other: 597,607 (15.9%) · 2024Other: 637,921 (15.5%) · 2025
  • China · 22.6%
  • Vietnam · 16.5%
  • South Korea · 9.9%
  • Philippines · 8.6%
  • Nepal · 7.3%
  • Indonesia · 6.4%
  • Brazil · 5.1%
  • Myanmar · 4.4%
  • Sri Lanka · 1.9%
  • Taiwan · 1.8%
  • Other · 15.5%
View data table · Nationality
View data table · Nationality
NationalityResidents · 2025Share of all residents
China930,42822.6%
Vietnam681,10016.5%
South Korea407,3419.9%
Philippines356,5798.6%
Nepal300,9927.3%
Indonesia266,0696.4%
Brazil210,0145.1%
Myanmar182,5674.4%
Sri Lanka79,1281.9%
Taiwan73,2561.8%
Other637,92115.5%

Source: Statistics on Foreign Residents in Japan, end of 2025: tables 1, 3, 4 and 6 · The ten largest nationalities and the fifteen largest residence statuses are drawn as their own bands and everything else combined into one; each breakdown is stacked to the figure it sums to

03

Technical intern training added 23 people; specified skilled worker added 105,830

技能実習 ended 2025 at 456,618, twenty-three more than a year earlier. 特定技能, introduced in 2019 to take its place, ended at 390,296, up 105,830 in one year.

Technical intern training has been the largest work-related status in Japan for most of the past decade, and it has now stopped growing: 378,200 at the end of 2020, 456,595 at the end of 2024, 456,618 at the end of 2025. Specified skilled worker had 15,663 holders at the end of 2020 and is now within 66,322 of it. Every other large status grew at an ordinary pace — permanent residence by 29,009 to 947,125, the engineer and specialist status by 57,084 to 475,790, the student status by 62,650 to 464,784.

The record year also contains two declines among the ten largest nationalities. South Korea fell by 1,897 to 407,341 and Brazil by 1,893 to 210,014; no other nationality in the top ten lost people. The Korean figure has fallen in twelve of the thirteen years since 2012, when it was 489,431. At the other end of the same table, Myanmar grew by 35.7%, Indonesia by 33.2% and Nepal by 29.2%.

04

One in five foreign residents lives in Tokyo

Tokyo held 801,438 foreign residents at the end of 2025, 19.4% of the national total. The five largest prefectures together held 51.9%.

Osaka follows with 375,319, then Aichi with 357,800, Kanagawa with 317,353 and Saitama with 290,937. At the other end of the table Tottori has 6,511 and Akita 6,333.

All 47 prefectures gained residents during 2025. Hokkaido grew fastest at 14.7% and Yamaguchi slowest at 4.4%. A further 7,228 people are recorded as 未定・不詳 — place of residence undetermined or unknown — and are inside the national total but inside no prefecture.

Foreign residents by prefecture, 2020–2025

Darker means more residents. All six years share one colour scale, so the map as a whole darkens over time. Use the menu to change year.

2025 · National total 4,125,395 · Highest: Tokyo 19.4% · Lowest: Akita 6,333

0801,438

A further 7,228 people are recorded as undetermined or unknown, outside the 47 prefectures

View data table · 2025
View data table · 2025
PrefectureResidentsShare of all residentsChange on a year earlier
Tokyo801,43819.4%+62,492
Osaka375,3199.1%+41,755
Aichi357,8008.7%+26,067
Kanagawa317,3537.7%+24,903
Saitama290,9377.1%+28,555
Chiba259,6636.3%+28,049
Hyogo155,0193.8%+12,343
Shizuoka132,1003.2%+7,819
Fukuoka125,5013.0%+12,342
Ibaraki111,8082.7%+9,259
Kyoto92,5632.2%+8,649
Gunma89,6702.2%+6,240
Gifu80,7662.0%+6,016
Hokkaido77,4011.9%+9,917
Mie73,5511.8%+4,747
Hiroshima72,6281.8%+4,791
Tochigi61,8781.5%+4,895
Nagano50,6551.2%+3,805
Shiga46,1801.1%+3,220
Okayama41,8401.0%+2,954
Okinawa33,4020.8%+4,018
Miyagi32,9030.8%+3,025
Kumamoto32,3720.8%+2,987
Niigata26,7240.6%+2,441
Toyama26,2960.6%+1,982
Yamanashi25,3130.6%+1,622
Ishikawa23,4980.6%+2,347
Oita23,0270.6%+2,697
Yamaguchi22,5390.5%+958
Kagawa21,7910.5%+2,184
Nara21,6230.5%+2,366
Fukushima21,5980.5%+1,576
Fukui21,5090.5%+1,611
Kagoshima21,4800.5%+2,508
Ehime20,2820.5%+1,595
Nagasaki17,4770.4%+1,785
Miyazaki12,9810.3%+1,470
Saga12,8410.3%+1,483
Iwate12,5260.3%+1,160
Shimane11,9400.3%+851
Wakayama11,5290.3%+1,385
Yamagata11,1110.3%+576
Tokushima9,7170.2%+810
Aomori9,4190.2%+816
Kochi7,3550.2%+507
Tottori6,5110.2%+443
Akita6,3330.2%+482

Source: Statistics on Foreign Residents in Japan, end of 2025: tables 1, 3, 4 and 6 · All six years share one colour scale

05

The national mix describes no single prefecture

Technical intern training is 2.2% of Tokyo's foreign residents and 37.1% of Miyazaki's. Aichi, not Tokyo, holds the most people on both training statuses.

Aichi holds 40,818 technical intern trainees and 30,612 specified skilled workers, more than any other prefecture, although Tokyo has more than twice as many foreign residents in total. Kagoshima has the highest specified-skilled-worker share of its own residents, at 28.6%.

Tokyo leads the statuses that are not about training: 193,525 permanent residents and 150,254 students. Kyoto has the highest student share of any prefecture, at 24.5%. Special permanent residence is concentrated in the west: 20.4% of Hyogo's foreign residents and 18.0% of Osaka's, against 0.9% in Kagoshima.

Prefectures ranked by residence status, end of 2025

Choose a status to see which prefectures hold the most people on it, and what share of that prefecture's own foreign residents they are. The eleven published columns partition every prefecture's total.

Permanent resident · Tokyo 193,525 (24.1%)

View data table · Permanent resident
View data table · Permanent resident
PrefectureResidentsShare of the prefecture
Tokyo193,52524.1%
Aichi106,83929.9%
Kanagawa101,28031.9%
Saitama77,13026.5%
Osaka64,64817.2%
Chiba61,58623.7%
Shizuoka43,09932.6%
Hyogo29,62819.1%
Ibaraki22,05819.7%
Gifu21,99127.2%
Gunma21,88524.4%
Mie20,51927.9%
Fukuoka17,76414.2%
Hiroshima15,27621.0%
Tochigi14,62223.6%
Nagano14,20928.1%
Shiga11,44224.8%
Kyoto11,13312.0%
Hokkaido7,1529.2%
Yamanashi6,85427.1%
Toyama6,69525.5%
Okinawa6,48819.4%
Okayama6,22014.9%
Miyagi5,89217.9%
Niigata5,37520.1%
Fukushima4,56821.2%
Fukui4,50921.0%
Nara3,80417.6%
Kumamoto3,61211.2%
Ishikawa3,58915.3%
Kagawa3,38415.5%
Yamagata3,15028.4%
Yamaguchi2,85412.7%
Shimane2,60121.8%
Kagoshima2,58412.0%
Ehime2,23511.0%
Oita2,1129.2%
Iwate2,02316.2%
Wakayama1,95416.9%
Nagasaki1,94811.1%
Tokushima1,52315.7%
Akita1,30220.6%
Miyazaki1,29810.0%
Aomori1,26913.5%
Saga1,2049.4%
Tottori1,08216.6%
Kochi1,01313.8%

Source: Statistics on Foreign Residents in Japan, end of 2025: tables 1, 3, 4 and 6