VISA ATLASWork visas & talent mobility
From→ToFind a corridor
EN
☰

Japan

Country · foreign residents by status of residence

Foreign residents, December 2025
4,125,395
Change on a year earlier
+9.5%
In work-related statuses
1,528,835
Share in work-related statuses
37.1%
Nationalities
197
Residents4,125,395Dec 2025
Year by year
Data as at Dec 2025
JP<JPNJAPAN<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
HUB0<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<0

Foreign residents by year

Foreign residents at the end of each December (mid- to long-term residents and special permanent residents). 2020 and 2021 were published only as database tables and are not included.

Foreign residents

2.06M4.13M201220132014201520162017201820192022202320242025
2.06M4.13M2012201420162018202220242025
Data table
20122,033,656
20132,066,445
20142,121,831
20152,232,189
20162,382,822
20172,561,848
20182,731,093
20192,933,137
20223,075,213
20233,410,992
20243,768,977
20254,125,395

Of whom in work-related statuses

764k1.53M201220132014201520162017201820192022202320242025
764k1.53M2012201420162018202220242025
Data table
2012351,617
2013359,932
2014381,870
2015430,697
2016499,876
2017580,369
2018679,040
2019819,323
2022908,595
20231,137,893
20241,342,201
20251,528,835
Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, Statistics on Foreign Residents (在留外国人統計), Table 1, end of December (e-Stat; Government of Japan Standard Terms of Use 2.0)Data as at Dec 2025

By status of residence

End of December 2025.

Foreign residents
  1. Permanent Resident947,125
  2. Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services475,790
  3. Student464,784
  4. Technical Intern Training456,618
  5. Specified Skilled Worker390,296
  6. Dependent352,875
  7. Special Permanent Resident266,896
  8. Long-Term Resident226,438
  9. Spouse or Child of Japanese National152,898
  10. Designated Activities125,286
  11. Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident56,568
  12. Skilled Labor54,574
  13. Business Manager46,781
  14. Highly Skilled Professional32,953
  15. Intra-company Transferee19,161
  16. Nursing Care15,891
  17. Instructor15,496
  18. Professor8,024
  19. Religious Activities5,130
  20. Cultural Activities2,971
  21. Entertainer2,853
  22. Medical Services2,722
  23. Researcher1,324
  24. Artist844
  25. Trainee719
  26. Journalist197
  27. Legal/Accounting Services181
Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, Statistics on Foreign Residents (在留外国人統計), Table 1, end of December (e-Stat; Government of Japan Standard Terms of Use 2.0)Data as at Dec 2025

Main work-related statuses

End of each December. Specified Skilled Worker began in April 2019 and Nursing Care in September 2017.

YearEngineer/Specialist in Humanities/International ServicesSpecified Skilled WorkerTechnical Intern TrainingHighly Skilled ProfessionalBusiness ManagerIntra-company TransfereeNursing CareSkilled Labor
2025475,790390,296456,61832,95346,78119,16115,89154,574
2024418,706284,466456,59528,70841,61518,37512,22746,712
2023362,346208,462404,55623,95837,51016,4049,32842,499
2022311,961130,923324,94018,31531,80813,0116,28439,775
2019271,9991,621410,97214,92427,24918,19359241,692
2018225,7240328,36011,06125,67017,32818539,915
2017189,2730274,2337,66824,03316,4861839,177
2016161,1240228,5883,73921,87715,772039,756
2015137,7060192,6551,50818,10915,465037,202
Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, Statistics on Foreign Residents (在留外国人統計), Table 1, end of December (e-Stat; Government of Japan Standard Terms of Use 2.0)Data as at Dec 2025

By prefecture

End of December 2025.

Foreign residents
  1. Tokyo801,438
  2. Osaka Prefecture375,319
  3. Aichi Prefecture357,800
  4. Kanagawa Prefecture317,353
  5. Saitama Prefecture290,937
  6. Chiba Prefecture259,663
  7. Hyogo Prefecture155,019
  8. Shizuoka Prefecture132,100
  9. Fukuoka Prefecture125,501
  10. Ibaraki Prefecture111,808
  11. Kyoto Prefecture92,563
  12. Gunma Prefecture89,670
  13. Gifu Prefecture80,766
  14. Hokkaido77,401
  15. Mie Prefecture73,551
  16. Hiroshima Prefecture72,628
  17. Tochigi Prefecture61,878
  18. Nagano Prefecture50,655
  19. Shiga Prefecture46,180
  20. Okayama Prefecture41,840
  21. Okinawa Prefecture33,402
  22. Miyagi Prefecture32,903
  23. Kumamoto Prefecture32,372
  24. Niigata Prefecture26,724
  25. Toyama Prefecture26,296
  26. Yamanashi Prefecture25,313
  27. Ishikawa Prefecture23,498
  28. Oita Prefecture23,027
  29. Yamaguchi Prefecture22,539
  30. Kagawa Prefecture21,791
  31. Nara Prefecture21,623
  32. Fukushima Prefecture21,598
  33. Fukui Prefecture21,509
  34. Kagoshima Prefecture21,480
  35. Ehime Prefecture20,282
  36. Nagasaki Prefecture17,477
  37. Miyazaki Prefecture12,981
  38. Saga Prefecture12,841
  39. Iwate Prefecture12,526
  40. Shimane Prefecture11,940
  41. Wakayama Prefecture11,529
  42. Yamagata Prefecture11,111
  43. Tokushima Prefecture9,717
  44. Aomori Prefecture9,419
  45. Kochi Prefecture7,355
  46. Tottori Prefecture6,511
  47. Akita Prefecture6,333
Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, Statistics on Foreign Residents (在留外国人統計), Table 1, end of December (e-Stat; Government of Japan Standard Terms of Use 2.0)Data as at Dec 2025

By nationality

Top 20 nationalities, end of December 2025. Hong Kong is shown separately but, as in the source table, is also counted within China.

Foreign residents
  1. China930,428
  2. Vietnam681,100
  3. South Korea407,341
  4. Philippines356,579
  5. Nepal300,992
  6. Indonesia266,069
  7. Brazil210,014
  8. Myanmar182,567
  9. Sri Lanka79,128
  10. Taiwan73,256
  11. United States69,787
  12. Thailand67,097
  13. India58,999
  14. Peru49,020
  15. Bangladesh44,938
  16. Pakistan34,911
  17. Cambodia28,957
  18. United Kingdom22,428
  19. zz-chosen22,201
  20. Mongolia21,359
Nationalities
197
Share of the three largest
48.9%
Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, Statistics on Foreign Residents (在留外国人統計), Table 1, end of December (e-Stat; Government of Japan Standard Terms of Use 2.0)Data as at Dec 2025

Official data, not advice. Visa Atlas publishes figures from government registers and statistics. It does not assess eligibility or give immigration advice; for advice, consult a regulated adviser. Read more