Tokyo's Population Falls for 1st Time in 26 Years

Tokyo, Jan. 31 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo's estimated population fell by 48,592 from a year before to stand at 13,988,129 as of Jan. 1, marking the first decline in 26 years on an annual basis, the metropolitan government said Monday. In 2021, the number of people who moved out of Tokyo totaled 415,060, while that of those who moved in came to 418,957. As a result, the net population inflow into the Japanese capital stood at 3,897, a record low. This may have been caused by the prolonged novel coronavirus pandemic, pundits said. The natural decrease, or the number of deaths minus that of births, came to 30,682. The estimated population is based on finalized population figures from the national census and reflects monthly changes in population shown in the basic resident register data. Tokyo's estimated population exceeded 14 million for the first time on May 1, 2020. The number has been on the decline year on year since then. According to the metropolitan government, soaring land prices caused by the Japan's bubble economy were behind the last decline in Tokyo's estimated population around 1995. END