Japan's immigration agency says the country granted refugee status to 74 foreigners last year, the largest number since record-keeping began in 1982.

The Immigration Services Agency says 2,413 foreigners applied for refugee status in the country in 2021. The number is down 1,523 from the previous year and marked a decline for the fourth straight year.

The number of people granted refugee status was 74, up 27 from the previous year.

They included 32 people from Myanmar, where a military coup occurred in February last year, followed by 18 from China and nine from Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Japan allowed 580 people to stay in the country on humanitarian grounds even though it did not give them refugee status. The figure was a record high and an increase of 536 from the previous year.

Of these people, 498 people were from Myanmar and six were from Syria.