Japanese population falls in all 47 prefectures for 1st time

Japan's population fell by a record in 2022,marking the biggest drop and the first time all 47 of the country's prefectures have seen a decline, government data showed Wednesday.

The population of Japanese nationals declined for a 14th straight year in 2022, with a record low of 772,000 births in Japan significantly exceeded by a record high of 1.57 million deaths, the survey showed.In contrast, Japan's foreign population increased by a record 289,498, or 10.7 percent, to 2,993,839 -- the highest since 2013.

The sharp increase also coincided with the government's relaxation of its Covid-19 pandemic border controls.By prefecture, only Tokyo registered an overall population increase due to the high influx of foreigners to the capital, while Akita Prefecture in northeastern Japan logged the largest population decrease at 1.65 percent.