Japan’s population, including foreign nationals, fell by 868,177 over the past five years, results of the national census survey conducted last year showed.

The population as of Oct. 1 stood at 126,226,568, the internal affairs ministry said in a preliminary report Friday.

The figure has continued to slide since the 2015 survey, which showed the country’s first population decrease since the census began in 1920.

But the rate of decline was smaller, at 0.7%, than the drop of 0.8% five years ago, reflecting an increase in the number of foreign nationals and the temporary return of many Japanese citizens from abroad due to the pandemic.

The population sank in 38 prefectures and rose in nine prefectures.

Tokyo and the neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa accounted for about 30% of the country’s population, highlighting the increasing concentration of people in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The area’s combined population increased by some 800,000 people to about 36.93 million.

The number of men stood at 61,360,014, while the number of women came to 64,866,554.

According to United Nations statistics, Japan became the 11th most populous country in the world, ceding last year’s 10th place to Mexico.

Source: ANNnewsCH