Foreigners Entering Japan Up 6-Fold in 2023

Jiji Press

16:44 JST, January 27, 2024

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The number of foreigners who entered Japan in 2023 jumped about 6.1-fold from the previous year to 25,830,789, the Immigration Services Agency said in a preliminary report Friday.

The rise came after Japan drastically eased its pandemic-linked border controls in October 2022.

The 2023 total was some 80% of the record high of 31,187,179 marked in 2019.

Of the total, new entrants accounted for 23,751,693, up about 6.9-fold.

By country or region, the number of new entrants from South Korea was 6,810,988, up from 952,743 in 2022, followed by Taiwan at 4,073,135, up from 317,293, and Hong Kong at 2,029,811, up from 254,479. New entrants from the United States hit a record 2,004,201, up from 302,382.

By visa status, foreigners who entered Japan with short-stay visas came to 23,132,036, up from 2,861,731, followed by those with technical training visas at 183,030, up from 179,032, and those with student visas at 139,574, down from 167,128.

The number of Japanese nationals who left the country was 9,624,152, up 3.4-fold.