Number of Japanese Living Abroad Falls for Second Year Running

A 2022 survey regarding Japanese residents overseas conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs found that as of October 1, 2021, there were 1.3 million Japanese nationals living abroad either long-term (more than 3 months) or as permanent residents. This was roughly a 0.9% decrease from the previous year, which fell by 12,824 people, and marked the second straight year of decline. The number of long-term residents fell by 20,678 to 807,238, while permanent residents increased by 7,854 to 537,662.

Japanese residents overseas had increased year-on-year to a record high of 1.4 million in 2019. However, that number has fallen by more than 65,000 over the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Greater Los Angeles area had the largest number of Japanese residents, with 67,000. This was followed by Bangkok with 59,000, the New York Metropolitan Area with 39,000, Singapore with 36,000, and Greater London with 32,000. Since 2011, the number of residents in Bangkok has risen by more than 20,000, while Japanese residing in Shanghai and New York decreased by 19,000 and 15,000, respectively.

By country, 32% (429,000) of Japanese living overseas were located in the United States and 8% (107,000) were residing in China. Looking at other countries, there were 93,000 Japanese living in Australia, 82,000 in Thailand, 70,000 in Canada, 63,000 in Britain, 48,000 in Brazil, 42,000 in Germany, 41,000 in South Korea, and 36,000 in France.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)