How Many Japanese Live Abroad? Official Statistics & Trends

About 1.3 million Japanese nationals live abroad: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) estimates 1,298,170 as of 1 October 2025, almost unchanged from the year before and still below the 2019 peak of 1,410,356 (as of October 2026).¹ Inside that flat total, two trends move in opposite directions: long-term stayers are shrinking, while permanent residents abroad (Eijusha 永住者) reached 588,486, the highest figure in MOFA’s series since 1991.¹ This guide brings together MOFA, Immigration Services Agency (ISA), JASSO, pension and Working Holiday data, and it also covers what the statistics show about foreign residents leaving Japan.

Key figures at a glance are summarised below. Every value is the latest official figure found, with its own reference date (as of October 2026).

Metric	Latest value	Reference date	Source
Japanese nationals living abroad (3 months or more)	1,298,170	1 October 2025	MOFA ¹
of which permanent residents (Eijusha)	588,486 (45.3%)	1 October 2025	MOFA ¹
of which long-term stayers (Choki Taizaisha)	709,684 (54.7%)	1 October 2025	MOFA ¹
Departures by Japanese nationals (trips, not people)	14,731,615	Calendar 2025 (final)	ISA ²
Japanese students starting study abroad	91,054	Academic year 2024 (April 2024 to March 2025)	JASSO ³
Japanese students abroad, mainly degree or long-term	50,139	2023 statistics	MEXT ⁴
Overseas pension recipients required to file a Genkyo-todoke	about 44,000	FY2022	Cabinet answer ⁵
Australian Working Holiday (subclass 417) grants to Japanese nationals	16,182	Program year 2024-25 (to 30 June 2025)	Home Affairs ⁶
Working Holiday partner countries and regions	32	1 April 2026	MOFA ⁷
BOJ real effective exchange rate (2020 = 100)	66.02	August 2026	Bank of Japan ⁸

The Big Picture: How Many Japanese Citizens Live Outside Japan Today?

The answer depends on what you count, but the standard reference is MOFA’s Annual Report of Statistics on Japanese Nationals Overseas (Kaigai Zairyu Hojinsu Chosa Tokei 海外在留邦人数調査統計). It is the only official series that estimates how many Japanese nationals are living, not just travelling, outside Japan on a fixed date each year.¹

The Latest MOFA Headline Figures (October 1, 2025 Survey)

MOFA’s 2025 survey counts 1,298,170 Japanese nationals abroad as of 1 October 2025, up 0.39% from 1,293,097 a year earlier; MOFA describes the total as about the same as the previous year (as of October 2026).¹ It is the first year-on-year increase since 2019.¹ Adults account for 1,052,403 people, or 81.1% of the total.¹

The split between the two residence types is the more revealing number. Long-term stayers (Choki Taizaisha 長期滞在者) totalled 709,684 (54.7%, down 3,029 or 0.4%), while permanent residents (Eijusha) totalled 588,486 (45.3%, up 8,102 or 1.4%) as of 1 October 2025 (as of October 2026).¹

Region	Japanese nationals (1 October 2025)	Share of total	Change from 2024	Permanent residents (Eijusha) as share of region
North America	491,701	37.9%	+1,020 (+0.2%)	58.0%
Asia	347,333	26.8%	-642 (-0.2%)	14.0%
Western Europe	215,695	16.6%	+0.0%	46.7%
Oceania	131,707	10.1% (derived)	+2,486 (+1.9%)	61.0%
South America	72,264	5.6% (derived)	+1,920 (+2.7%)	89.6%
Central America	11,920	0.9% (derived)	-660 (-5.2%)	33.7%
Middle East	10,646	0.8% (derived)	+669 (+6.7%)	19.3%
Eastern Europe and former USSR	10,281	0.8% (derived)	+1.1%	18.2%
Africa	6,592	0.5% (derived)	+1.6%	13.3%
Antarctica	31	under 0.1%	n/a	n/a

Source: MOFA, survey as of 1 October 2025 (as of October 2026).¹ Shares of the total marked “derived” were calculated by dividing MOFA’s regional counts by the total.

North America, Asia and Western Europe together hold about 81% of all Japanese nationals abroad, in MOFA’s own wording.¹ The chart below shows the same regional split, with the five smallest regions grouped as “Other”.

pie showData
    title Japanese nationals abroad by region, 1 October 2025 (MOFA)
    "North America" : 491701
    "Asia" : 347333
    "Western Europe" : 215695
    "Oceania" : 131707
    "South America" : 72264
    "Other regions" : 39470

Source: MOFA ¹. “Other regions” (39,470) is the derived sum of Central America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and former USSR, Africa and Antarctica, about 3.0% of the total.

Who Is Counted: Long-Term Stayers, Permanent Residents, and the 3-Month Rule

The survey covers Japanese nationals only, including dual nationals, who have established an address or residence abroad and stay there for 3 months or more.¹ That 3-month line comes from the duty to file a residence notification abroad (Zairyu-todoke 在留届) under Article 16 of the Passport Act.¹ Short trips, however frequent, are not included.

MOFA’s current definitions are short and practical. A long-term stayer lives in the host country for a fixed period; a permanent resident (Eijusha) lives there without a fixed end date.¹ Older editions historically defined Eijusha as nationals granted permanent residence by the host country who had moved their base of life abroad, but the 2025 report does not mention host-country permanent residence.¹⁹

The figure is an estimate, not a census. MOFA builds it from Zairyu-todoke filed with embassies and consulates, and it states that some nationals do not file or update their notification; Taiwan figures come through the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association and Antarctica figures through MEXT.¹ Undercounting is therefore acknowledged by MOFA itself.

Three countries are left out entirely. Ukraine, Afghanistan and Syria are excluded from the published figures for the safety of Japanese nationals there (as of 1 October 2025).¹ Overseas territories are also counted separately from the mainland country, so Guam, for example, is not part of the United States figure.¹

A 30-Year Trend Line: Growth, the 2019 Peak, and the Pandemic Drop

The total roughly doubled between 1991 and 2019, from 663,049 to 1,410,356, a derived increase of 2.13 times.¹ MOFA’s series in the 2025 report begins in 1991, so earlier comparisons need a different source.

Year (1 October)	Total	Long-term stayers	Permanent residents
1991	663,049	412,207	250,842
1995	728,268	460,522	267,746
2000	811,712	526,685	285,027
2005	1,012,547	701,969	310,578
2010	1,143,357	758,788	384,569
2015	1,317,078	859,994	457,084
2019 (peak total)	1,410,356	891,473	518,883
2020	1,357,724	827,916	529,808
2021	1,344,900	807,238	537,662
2022	1,308,515	751,481	557,034
2023	1,293,565	718,838	574,727
2024	1,293,097	712,713	580,384
2025	1,298,170	709,684	588,486

Source: MOFA time series in the 2025 report (as of October 2026).¹

The pandemic years broke the growth line. The total fell 3.73% in 2020, 0.94% in 2021, 2.71% in 2022, 1.14% in 2023 and 0.04% in 2024, before edging up 0.39% in 2025 (as of October 2026).¹ As of 1 October 2025, the total remains 7.95% below the 2019 peak (derived), so the data show a flat total rather than mass departure.¹

How to Read Japan’s Outbound Statistics: Sources, Definitions, and Release Calendar

No single dataset answers every question about Japanese emigration. Each official source counts a different population, in a different unit, on a different reference date. Knowing which one to open saves most of the confusion found in news coverage.

The Five Core Datasets and What Each Measures

Dataset	Publisher	Population covered	Unit	Reference period	Latest edition seen	Language
Kaigai Zairyu Hojinsu Chosa Tokei 海外在留邦人数調査統計	MOFA Consular Affairs Bureau	Japanese nationals (including dual nationals) abroad 3 months or more	Residents (stock)	1 October each year	2025 survey; index page dated 20 February 2026 ¹¹⁰	Japanese (PDF, Excel)
Shutsunyukoku Kanri Tokei 出入国管理統計 (Statistics on Legal Migrants)	Immigration Services Agency	Japanese and foreign nationals crossing the border	Trips (flows)	Calendar year and month	2025 final annual tables on e-Stat, 24 July 2026 ²¹¹	Japanese
Nihonjin Gakusei Ryugaku Jokyo Chosa 日本人学生留学状況調査	JASSO, with MEXT summary	Students enrolled at Japanese higher education institutions	Students starting study abroad	Academic year (April to March)	AY2024, MEXT notice 29 May 2026 ³⁴	Japanese
Pension recipient data	Japan Pension Service and MHLW (via a Cabinet written answer)	Pension recipients living abroad, nationality not separated	Recipients	Fiscal year	FY2022 figure, answer dated 13 June 2023 ⁵	Japanese
Host-country Working Holiday data	Australia Home Affairs, UK Home Office, MOFA quota list	Japanese nationals on Working Holiday visas	Visa grants or quota places	Host program year or calendar year	Australia to 31 December 2025; UK 2026 allocation; MOFA list 1 April 2026 ⁷⁶¹²¹³	English and Japanese

Release months are observed publication dates, not an official release calendar (as of October 2026).

ISA’s monthly preliminary tables appear on e-Stat around the middle of the following month; for example, September 2026 data were published on 15 October 2026 (as of October 2026).¹¹ MOFA’s statistics index page listing the 2025 edition is dated 20 February 2026.¹⁰

Residents vs. Trips vs. Migrant Stock: Why Numbers Differ

Departures are trips, not emigrants. The 14,731,615 departures by Japanese nationals in 2025 count each journey, so one frequent traveller can appear many times.² The MOFA figure of 1,298,170 is a stock of people living abroad on a single day, 1 October 2025.¹

ISA return data show how short most trips are. Of 14,738,472 returns by Japanese nationals in 2025, 8,764,657 followed stays of 5 days or less and 3,200,130 followed stays of 6 to 10 days (as of October 2026).¹⁴ Only 153,739 returns came after stays of more than 1 year (derived from ISA’s length-of-stay bands), and 98,935 had an unknown stay length, for example people issued a new passport abroad.¹⁴

United Nations migrant stock estimates are a third, separate measure. The UN DESA International Migrant Stock (latest edition 2024) is compiled from destination-country data and uses a different definition of who counts as a migrant, so its totals for Japan as a country of origin will not match MOFA.¹⁵ Japan’s own population estimates add a fourth angle: Japanese nationals showed a net outflow of 2,000 in the year to 1 October 2024, the first net outflow in 2 years.¹⁶

The Great Emigration Shift: Permanent Residents (Eijusha) at a Series High vs. Corporate Expats

The real story in the MOFA data is a change in composition. Fewer Japanese are abroad on fixed-term postings or studies than before the pandemic, while more are settled abroad with no planned end date.

Permanent Residents Abroad: Highest in MOFA’s Series Since 1991

Eijusha reached 588,486 as of 1 October 2025, the highest figure in MOFA’s series since 1991 and the 23rd consecutive annual rise (as of October 2026).¹ The only decline in the 1991 to 2025 series was in 2002 (-2.59%).¹

Growth has been steady rather than sudden. The count rose from 250,842 in 1991 to 310,578 in 2005, 457,084 in 2015 and 518,883 in 2019, before reaching 588,486 in 2025.¹ By derived calculation, that is an increase of 89.5% since 2005 and 28.7% since 2015.¹

Annual growth rates since the pandemic were +2.11% (2020), +1.48% (2021), +3.60% (2022), +3.18% (2023), +0.98% (2024) and +1.40% (2025) (as of October 2026).¹ The permanent share of all Japanese abroad rose from 36.8% in 2019 to 45.3% in 2025 (2019 share derived).¹

Long-Term Stayers (Chuzai, Students, Families): Below Pre-Pandemic Levels

Long-term stayers fell for six years in a row, from 891,473 in 2019 to 709,684 in 2025, a derived drop of 20.4% (as of October 2026).¹ The annual declines were 7.13% (2020), 2.50% (2021), 6.91% (2022), 4.34% (2023), 0.85% (2024) and 0.42% (2025).¹

This group includes corporate expatriates (Chuzai-in 駐在員), students, researchers, government staff and their families. China illustrates the trend: 92.9% of Japanese nationals there were long-term stayers in 2025, and the count fell from 107,715 in 2021 to 92,928 in 2025, a derived drop of 13.7%.¹ The difference between assignment-based moves and local hiring is covered in our guide to expatriate assignments versus local hire.

xychart-beta
    title "Long-term stayers (upper line) vs permanent residents (lower line), MOFA"
    x-axis "Survey year (1 October; intervals are uneven)" ["2005", "2010", "2015", "2019", "2020", "2021", "2022", "2023", "2024", "2025"]
    y-axis "Japanese nationals abroad" 0 --> 1000000
    line [701969, 758788, 859994, 891473, 827916, 807238, 751481, 718838, 712713, 709684]
    line [310578, 384569, 457084, 518883, 529808, 537662, 557034, 574727, 580384, 588486]

Source: MOFA time series ¹. Upper line: long-term stayers (Choki Taizaisha); lower line: permanent residents (Eijusha); the axis shows 5-year steps to 2019, then single years.

Gender and Regional Patterns in Permanent Emigration

Women make up 62.6% of Eijusha: 368,336 of 588,486 as of 1 October 2025 (share derived from MOFA’s sex table).¹ Among long-term stayers, by contrast, women are 47.5% (337,011 of 709,684, derived), and across all Japanese abroad they are 54.3% (705,347 of 1,298,170, derived).¹

This pattern is long-standing. Women have outnumbered men among Eijusha in every year of MOFA’s 1991 to 2025 series that gives a sex split (1997 is shown as not available); in 1991 the figures were 135,935 women and 114,907 men.¹

Where Japanese live permanently varies sharply by region. In 2025, Eijusha made up 89.6% of Japanese nationals in South America, 61.0% in Oceania and 58.0% in North America, but only 14.0% in Asia (as of October 2026).¹

The regional table in the first section gives the share for every region. By country, the largest Eijusha communities are listed below.

Rank	Country	Eijusha	Eijusha share of Japanese in country
1	United States	233,475	56.1%
2	Australia	65,085	61.7%
3	Canada	51,569	68.5%
4	Brazil	44,461	90.7%
5	United Kingdom	29,955	48.1%
6	Germany	19,026	42.6%
7	South Korea	17,229	38.7%
8	France	15,662	43.5%
9	New Zealand	12,529	58.4%
10	Argentina	9,818	96.6%

Source: ranking derived from MOFA’s country table, as of 1 October 2025 (as of October 2026).¹

Geographic Distribution: Top 10 Countries and Top Global Cities for Japanese Nationals

Japanese nationals abroad are highly concentrated. The top 3 countries hold about 47% of the total and the top 10 about 77%, in MOFA’s wording.¹

Top 10 Countries by Japanese Population

The United States is far ahead, and Australia now ranks second, above China. Australia moved ahead of China in the 2024 survey (in 2023 China had 101,786 and Australia 99,830), and the gap widened in 2025.¹

Rank	Country	Japanese nationals (1 October 2025)	Share of total	Change from 2024
1	United States	416,380	32.1%	+0.7%
2	Australia	105,566	8.1%	+1.4%
3	China	92,928	7.2%	-4.7%
4	Canada	75,316	5.8%	-2.6%
5	Thailand	72,113	5.6%	+2.4%
6	United Kingdom	62,270	4.8%	-2.8%
7	Brazil	49,037	3.8%	+5.3%
8	Germany	44,648	3.4%	+2.6%
9	South Korea	44,471	3.4%	+3.3%
10	France	36,023	2.8%	-2.8%

Source: MOFA ¹ (as of October 2026).

Ranks 11 to 15 are Singapore (33,397), Taiwan (21,755), New Zealand (21,471), Malaysia (19,690) and Vietnam (16,636) as of 1 October 2025.¹ For comparison, the 2024 survey counted 413,380 in the US, 104,141 in Australia and 97,538 in China.¹

Top Global Cities and Metropolitan Areas

Greater Los Angeles remains the largest Japanese community abroad, followed by Bangkok. The top 5 cities hold about 17% of all Japanese nationals abroad and the top 10 about 27%, according to MOFA.¹

Rank	City or metropolitan area	Japanese nationals (1 October 2025)	Share of total	Change from 2024
1	Greater Los Angeles	63,972	4.9%	+0.7%
2	Bangkok	51,297	4.0%	+2.3%
3	Greater New York	38,251	2.9%	+2.4%
4	Singapore	33,397	2.6%	+2.6%
5	Shanghai	31,733	2.4%	-8.5%
6	Greater Sydney	31,673	2.4%	+1.5%
7	Greater London	30,515	2.4%	-3.5%
8	Greater Vancouver	28,090	2.2%	-2.7%
9	Honolulu	23,254	1.8%	+0.2%
10	Hong Kong	23,228	1.8%	+1.5%

Source: MOFA ¹ (as of October 2026).

Singapore overtook Shanghai in 2025. In the 2024 survey Shanghai (34,681) ranked fourth and Singapore fifth; in 2025 the order reversed (as of October 2026).¹ Ranks 11 to 15 are Greater San Francisco (20,621), Greater Melbourne (19,671), Greater Toronto (18,101), Greater San Jose (16,781) and Seoul (14,496).¹

Fastest-Growing and Shrinking Destinations

Over 5 years, the map has tilted toward Oceania, Canada, South Korea and Europe and away from much of Asia. The table below compares 1 October 2021 with 1 October 2025, using percentage changes derived from MOFA’s country table.¹

Growing (2021 to 2025)	Change	Shrinking (2021 to 2025)	Change
UAE (4,428 to 5,300)	+19.7%	Malaysia (27,256 to 19,690)	-27.8%
Australia (93,451 to 105,566)	+13.0%	Vietnam (22,185 to 16,636)	-25.0%
South Korea	+7.8%	Philippines	-15.2%
Canada	+6.2%	China	-13.7%
Germany	+6.0%	Thailand	-12.7%
Netherlands	+5.2%	Taiwan	-10.0%
New Zealand	+5.1%	Singapore	-7.7%
		United States	-3.1%

Source: derived from MOFA ¹ (as of October 2026).

Year-on-year moves in 2025 tell a similar story. Among the top 25 countries, India (+9.4%), New Zealand (+5.7%), the Philippines (+5.5%), Brazil (+5.3%) and the Netherlands (+5.3%) grew, while Mexico (-6.4%), China (-4.7%) and Vietnam (-4.4%) fell.¹ Outside the top 25, the UAE rose 11.0% to 5,300, while Myanmar fell 18.2% and Poland 9.0% (as of October 2026).¹

Outbound Purpose Breakdown: Tourism, Global Work, Study, Investment, and Retirement

Japan publishes no single statistic on why its citizens leave. Purpose has to be pieced together from separate datasets, each with its own unit and year, so the numbers below should be read side by side, never added together.

Japanese National Departures by Year and Age Group (ISA)

Japanese departures recovered to 14,731,615 trips in 2025, up 13.3% on 2024 and equal to 73.4% of the 2019 level of 20,080,669, the highest in ISA’s table since 1989 (share derived; final figures).² The preliminary release printed 14,731,565; the final release and ISA’s annual table both give 14,731,615.²¹⁷¹¹

The pandemic collapse and recovery are clear in the annual series. Departures fell to 3,174,219 in 2020 and 512,244 in 2021, then rose to 2,771,770 in 2022, 9,624,158 in 2023 and 13,007,282 in 2024 (ISA final figures; as of October 2026).²

Women made up 51.0% of departures in 2025 and men 49.0% (derived from ISA’s prefecture, age and sex table).¹¹ Travellers aged 20 to 29 accounted for 3,270,757 trips (22.2%), and those aged 60 and over for 2,584,656 (17.5%).¹¹ Women made up 66.1% of departures aged 20 to 24 and 62.8% of those aged 25 to 29, while men were the majority in every age band from 35 upward (all derived).¹¹

Tokyo residents alone made 3,427,814 departures in 2025 (derived from the same table).¹¹

Long-Term Stayers by Occupation Category (MOFA)

ISA records no departure purpose for Japanese nationals. Its 2025 annual tables for Japanese nationals cover departures by port and month, returns by port and month, departures by prefecture, age and sex, and returns by length of stay; foreign nationals, by contrast, are tabulated by status of residence.¹¹¹⁴¹⁸

The only official purpose split is MOFA’s occupation breakdown of long-term stayers, and the latest edition confirmed to contain it reflects data as of 1 October 2017.⁹ MOFA’s 2023, 2024 and 2025 reports no longer publish this breakdown.¹¹⁹²⁰

Occupation category of long-term stayers (including family)	Count, 1 October 2017	Approximate share
Private company related	463,700	53%
Students, researchers and teachers	180,406	21%
Other (including not working)	148,651	17%
Liberal professions and self-employed (Jiyugyo Kankeisha 自由業関係者)	48,785	5.6%
Government related	22,659	2.6%

Source: MOFA 2018 edition, data as of 1 October 2017 ⁹. Historical data, not current. The category list also includes media workers.

What the Data Cannot Tell You: Investment and Retirement Moves

No official Japanese series counts investor or retirement emigration. MOFA’s 2025 report gives totals, the long-term and permanent split, sex and adults by country, but no age bands and no purpose.¹ Retirement moves can only be approached through the pension proxy described in the next section.⁵

The best available figure for each purpose comes from a different dataset and year, as the diagram shows. Because the units are different (students, visa grants, pension recipients, residents), they cannot be shown on one bar chart without implying a false comparison.

flowchart LR
    W["Work"] --> W1["MOFA occupation breakdown"] --> W2["463,700 private-company related long-term stayers incl. family (1 Oct 2017)"]
    S["Study"] --> S1["JASSO study abroad survey"] --> S2["91,054 students started study abroad (AY2024)"]
    H["Working Holiday"] --> H1["Australia Home Affairs"] --> H2["16,182 subclass 417 grants (FY2024-25)"]
    R["Retirement (proxy)"] --> R1["Cabinet answer on Genkyo-todoke"] --> R2["about 44,000 overseas pension recipients (FY2022)"]
    I["Investment"] --> I1["No official series"]

Sources: MOFA ⁹, JASSO ³, Home Affairs ⁶, Cabinet answer ⁵ (as of October 2026). Figures are not additive.

The Pensioner Diaspora: Where Japanese Retirees Collect Nenkin Abroad

Retirement abroad is one of the least measured parts of Japanese outbound mobility. The only official figure found is a single fiscal-year count released in reply to a Diet question.

How Many Japanese Pension Recipients Live Overseas

About 44,000 pension recipients living abroad were required to submit the annual life-status report (Genkyo-todoke 現況届) to the Japan Pension Service in FY2022, according to a Cabinet written answer dated 13 June 2023 (as of October 2026).⁵ The same answer states that the Japan Pension Service and MHLW do not compile counts of submissions, non-submissions, deaths or payment suspensions for overseas recipients.⁵

Why this works as a proxy: the Japan Pension Service normally confirms that recipients are alive through the Basic Resident Register Network (Juki-net), and those who cannot be confirmed that way must submit the Genkyo-todoke in their birth month.²¹ Recipients who have moved abroad are generally no longer on the resident register, so they usually fall into the filing group.²¹

Read the figure with three limits in mind. It dates from FY2022, it counts people required to file rather than all recipients, and it does not separate Japanese nationals from foreign former residents who receive a Japanese pension abroad.⁵ No newer or fuller series was found on Japan Pension Service or MHLW sites (as of October 2026).

Where They Live: Country Distribution and Retirement Hubs

No official country distribution of overseas pension recipients exists in the Japan Pension Service, MHLW statistics or Diet answers searched (as of October 2026).⁵ MOFA’s 2025 report does not publish age bands either, so “retirement hubs” cannot be ranked from official data.¹

Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Hawaii are commonly discussed retirement destinations, but that reputation is not a statistical ranking. MOFA data actually show Malaysia (-27.8%) and the Philippines (-15.2%) shrinking between 2021 and 2025 (derived), which argues against a “retiree boom” framing for those countries.¹ Living costs in popular destinations and the mechanics of receiving a Japanese pension overseas are covered in our guides on retiring abroad on a Japanese pension and on overseas pension payouts.

Study Abroad and Youth Mobility: JASSO University Trends and Working Holiday Numbers

Youth mobility recovered quickly after 2021 but has not returned to its pre-pandemic peak. Two different student measures exist, and Working Holiday data come mostly from host countries.

JASSO Study Abroad Figures: Short-Term Programs vs. Degree Seekers

91,054 Japanese students started study abroad in academic year 2024 (1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025), up 1,875 or 2.1% (as of October 2026).³⁴ Of these, 57,262 went under agreements between institutions and 33,792 went outside such agreements, as far as the home institution knew.³ The peak was 115,146 in academic year 2018.³

The pandemic nearly stopped student mobility. The count was 107,346 in academic year 2019, fell to 1,487 in 2020 and 10,999 in 2021, then recovered to 58,162 in 2022 and 89,179 in 2023 (as of October 2026).³

Most of this is short-term study. In academic year 2024, 60,301 students (66.2%, derived) went for under 1 month, up 5.7%, while only 1,793 (2.0%, derived) went for 1 year or more; MEXT notes that every duration band other than under 1 month fell.³⁴ Women made up 61.2% of participants (55,711) and men 38.4% (34,983).³

Destination (AY2024)	Students	Share of total
United States	12,627	13.9%
Australia	9,329	10.2%
South Korea	8,360	9.2%
Canada	6,736	7.4%
United Kingdom	5,381	5.9%
Taiwan	5,260	5.8%
Thailand	4,789	5.3%
Philippines	3,697	4.1%
China	3,615	4.0%
Malaysia	3,064	3.4%

Source: JASSO and MEXT ³⁴ (as of October 2026).

By region, Asia leads with 36,904 students (40.5%), ahead of Europe (20,831) and North America (19,363, down 8.4%).³⁴ The US remains the single largest destination but lost 890 students (-6.6%) year on year.³

Degree-seeking and long-term study is measured separately. MEXT, compiling UNESCO, IIE “Open Doors” and other host-country data, counts 50,139 Japanese students abroad in its 2023 statistics, up 2.3%, with the US (13,959, -13.0%), Taiwan (9,888, +35.0%) and China (6,140, -13.3%) as top destinations.⁴ MEXT cautions that a 2013 definition change and the 2023 removal of OECD data break comparability, and according to NIAD’s compilation of OECD and other statistics, that long-term series peaked at 82,945 in 2004.⁴²²

Working Holiday Trends: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK

Japan has Working Holiday arrangements with 32 countries and regions, beginning with Australia in 1980 (as of 1 April 2026).⁷ MOFA gives 18 to 30 at the time of application as the standard age range, and each partner sets its own detailed conditions.⁷

Partner	Annual places for Japanese nationals (as listed by MOFA)
Australia	No cap
New Zealand	No cap
South Korea	10,000
Taiwan	10,000
Canada	6,283
United Kingdom	6,000 (Youth Mobility Scheme, 2026 allocation)
France	1,800
Hong Kong	1,500
Ireland	800
Spain	700
Italy	500 (started 2026)
Malta	100 (started 2026)
Germany, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Estonia, Finland	No cap

Source: MOFA list as of 1 April 2026 ⁷; UK allocation confirmed by the Home Office ¹³ (as of October 2026).

Australia publishes the most detailed grant data, and it shows a programme that recovered strongly after 2021 and is now easing. Subclass 417 grants to Japanese nationals were 1,558 in 2020-21, 5,170 in 2021-22, 14,398 in 2022-23 and 17,095 in 2023-24, then 16,182 in 2024-25 (-5.3%), equal to 6.3% of all 417 grants (as of October 2026).⁶

Australian 417 grants to Japanese nationals	First visa	Second visa	Third visa	Total
2023-24 (to 30 June 2024)	14,290	2,579	226	17,095
2024-25 (to 30 June 2025)	10,920	4,126	1,136	16,182
July to December 2025	4,645	1,748	717	7,110

Source: Australian Department of Home Affairs ⁶¹² (as of October 2026).

First-time grants are falling while repeat grants rise. First grants dropped 23.6% in 2024-25, and in the six months to 31 December 2025 total grants were 9.4% lower than in the same period of 2024 (7,844), with first grants down 15.6%.⁶¹² The data therefore point to an easing in demand from first-time applicants.

Other partners publish less. MOFA lists Canada’s annual places as 6,283 and New Zealand with no cap (as of 1 April 2026), but no host-country grant counts for Japanese nationals were available from Canada or New Zealand.⁷²³

Japanese nationals may now take part twice in a lifetime in Canada, Slovakia, South Korea and Taiwan, and the UK Youth Mobility Scheme has allowed stays of up to 2 years since 2008.⁷ Eligibility and application steps are covered in our comprehensive Working Holiday guide.

Root Drivers of Modern Outbound Migration: Yen Weakness, Wage Gaps, and Education

Official indicators point to economic pressures behind outbound mobility, although no dataset links individual moves to a specific cause. Each driver below is tied to a published statistic rather than to opinion.

The Weak Yen and the Overseas Earnings Gap

The yen’s real effective exchange rate reached 65.24 in July 2026 (2020 = 100), the lowest monthly value in Bank of Japan data going back to 1980; it stood at 66.02 in August 2026, the latest month available (as of October 2026).⁸ The same index peaked at 194.05 in April 1995, was 100.61 in October 2019, and stood at 68.92 in July 2024 and 68.42 in December 2025.⁸

The nominal effective rate tells the same story. It was 68.46 in August 2026 (2020 = 100), against a peak of 122.67 in January 2012, and the yen averaged 156.23 per US dollar in September 2026 (Tokyo market, 17:00 monthly average) (as of October 2026).⁸²⁴

Annual averages of yen per US dollar were approximately 79.79 in 2012, 109.01 in 2019, 151.50 in 2024 and 149.65 in 2025 (derived as the mean of BOJ monthly averages).²⁴ A weaker real exchange rate cuts both ways: it raises the yen value of wages earned in foreign currency, but it also raises the yen cost of living abroad for anyone relying on yen income such as pensions or savings.

Wage Stagnation and Labour Market Pull Factors

Real wages in Japan fell for a fourth consecutive year in 2025. MHLW’s Monthly Labour Survey (establishments with 5 or more employees) shows nominal total cash earnings of 355,941 yen per month (+2.3%), but real wages down 1.3% when deflated by CPI excluding imputed rent (as of October 2026).²⁵ The real-wage declines were 1.0% in 2022, 2.5% in 2023, 0.3% in 2024 and 1.3% in 2025; deflated by headline CPI, the 2025 fall was 0.8%.²⁵

International comparisons widen the gap. OECD average annual wages, in constant 2025 US dollars at purchasing power parity, show Japan at 50,183 in 2025, below its 2000 level of 51,891, while the OECD average rose from 53,712 to 64,803.²⁶ By derived calculation, Japan’s average wage fell from 97% of the OECD average in 2000 to 77% in 2025.²⁶

Country (OECD average annual wage, 2025, USD PPP, 2025 prices)	Value
United States	86,977
Germany	76,285
Australia	72,018
Canada	67,901
United Kingdom	66,299
OECD average	64,803
South Korea	61,259
Japan	50,183

Source: OECD, base year 2025 ²⁶ (as of October 2026). Figures published elsewhere with an earlier base year are not comparable.

Aging, Family Choices, and Children’s Education

MOFA’s adult count offers the only official hint about families abroad. Adults numbered 1,052,403 of 1,298,170 as of 1 October 2025, implying about 245,767 people not classified as adults (derived; MOFA’s summary does not define the adult age).¹

Education is a frequently reported motive for family moves, but no official survey quantifies “education migration” by Japanese families. Schooling options abroad are covered in our guide to international versus local schools for children.

Remote Work and Digital Nomad Visas

There is no official count of Japanese digital nomads in MOFA, ISA or the host-country data reviewed. MOFA counts anyone staying 3 months or more who files a Zairyu-todoke, whatever their type of work.¹ Remote work is therefore an emerging factor without its own statistic; visa options are covered in our guide to digital nomad visas for Japan residents.

Demographics of Departing Foreign Residents: Tracking PR and Long-Term Resident Exits

Foreign residents leaving Japan do not appear in MOFA or JASSO data, and the pension proxy does not separate them by nationality. The only official window is ISA’s border data, which record each departure with the traveller’s status of residence and whether they held a re-entry permit.

What ISA Data Shows About Foreign Residents Leaving Japan

Japan had 4,125,395 foreign residents at the end of 2025, made up of 3,858,499 mid- to long-term residents and 266,896 Special Permanent Residents, including 947,125 Permanent Residents (as of 31 December 2025).²⁷ These stock figures serve here only as context for the exit data below.

ISA counted 42,021,327 departures by foreign nationals in 2025, of which 3,352,981 were by people who had obtained a re-entry permit (as of October 2026).¹⁸ Departures without a re-entry permit totalled 38,668,346 (derived), almost all by Temporary Visitors (38,362,218).¹⁸ Excluding Temporary Visitors, 306,128 departures were made without a re-entry permit (simple departure, Tanjun Shukkoku 単純出国), a figure that also includes diplomats and official staff (derived).¹⁸

Status of residence (2025)	Departures without a re-entry permit (derived)
Technical Intern Training	56,548
Student	54,976
Entertainer	43,563
Designated Activities	42,360
Specified Skilled Worker	20,303
Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services	11,126
Dependent	6,485
Long-Term Resident (Teijusha 定住者)	2,019
Spouse or Child of Japanese National	1,717
Permanent Resident	478 (of 911,987 departures)
Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident	175
Special Permanent Resident	12

Source: derived from ISA table of foreign departures by status of residence (total minus departures with a re-entry permit) ¹⁸ (as of October 2026).

These are departure events, not people, and not proof of permanent exit. The 478 Permanent Resident departures without a permit understate status losses: a Permanent Resident who leaves with a re-entry permit or under special re-entry and then stays abroad beyond its validity also loses status, and is not counted here.¹⁸ No ISA series counts Permanent Resident status lost abroad, and nationality-level exit data were not available in the 2025 annual tables.¹¹¹⁸

Data Differences: Japanese Nationals vs. Foreign Residents

The two groups leave very different statistical footprints. Japanese nationals are tracked after departure through consular registration; foreign residents largely disappear from Japanese statistics once they leave.

Question	Japanese nationals	Foreign residents
Stock living abroad	MOFA survey based on Zairyu-todoke ¹	Not measured by Japan after departure
Departures	ISA trips by prefecture, age and sex; no purpose ¹¹	ISA trips by nationality and status of residence, with a re-entry permit flag ¹⁸
Returns	ISA returns by length of stay abroad ¹⁴	ISA entries by status, including re-entry
Students	JASSO and MEXT ³⁴	Not applicable here
Pension abroad	Genkyo-todoke proxy, not split by nationality ⁵	Same proxy; lump-sum withdrawal data not covered here

Two departure traps matter for foreign residents. The special re-entry permit (Minashi Sainyukoku みなし再入国) is valid for 1 year from departure (2 years for Special Permanent Residents) and cannot be extended abroad, so a Permanent Resident who stays away longer loses status. Receiving the Lump-Sum Withdrawal Payment (Dattai Ichijikin 脱退一時金) erases the Japanese pension coverage periods it is based on; both rules are explained in our guides to departure rules for citizens and foreign residents and to the lump-sum pension withdrawal.

Common Misreadings of Japan’s Outbound Statistics

Most errors in coverage of Japanese emigration come from mixing datasets. Check any headline figure against this list before relying on it.

Treating trips as emigration. 14.7 million departures in 2025 are journeys; about 1.3 million is the number of Japanese nationals living abroad.¹²
Treating the total as a new high or as mass emigration. The total is 7.95% below the 2019 peak (derived); only Eijusha are at the highest level in MOFA’s series since 1991.¹
Assuming Eijusha gave up Japanese nationality. MOFA counts only Japanese nationals, including dual nationals; Eijusha are Japanese nationals living abroad without a fixed end date.¹
Forgetting undercounting. The MOFA figure is an estimate from Zairyu-todoke, and MOFA itself says non-filers exist.¹
Mixing reference dates. MOFA uses 1 October, ISA the calendar year, JASSO the April to March academic year, Australia’s Working Holiday program a July to June year, and population estimates the year to 1 October.¹²³⁶¹⁶
Quoting preliminary figures as final. ISA’s preliminary 2025 departures (14,731,565) were revised to 14,731,615.²¹⁷
Reading JASSO as a count of foreign degrees. JASSO covers students of Japanese institutions, 66.2% of them on programmes under 1 month; MEXT’s separate long-term series (50,139 in 2023) is the better guide to degree study.³⁴
Comparing MOFA counts with UN migrant stock. The UN figures use different source data and a different definition of a migrant.¹⁵
Presenting the occupation breakdown as current. The latest official split of long-term stayers by occupation reflects 1 October 2017.⁹

References & Official Sources

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Consular Affairs Bureau Policy Division, “海外在留邦人数調査統計 (Annual Report of Statistics on Japanese Nationals Overseas), 令和7年（2025年）10月1日現在”, PDF, accessed October 2026, https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/100957047.pdf (archived copy: http://web.archive.org/web/20260421192127id_/https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/100957047.pdf) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷ ↩²⁸ ↩²⁹ ↩³⁰ ↩³¹ ↩³² ↩³³ ↩³⁴ ↩³⁵ ↩³⁶ ↩³⁷ ↩³⁸ ↩³⁹ ↩⁴⁰ ↩⁴¹ ↩⁴² ↩⁴³ ↩⁴⁴ ↩⁴⁵ ↩⁴⁶ ↩⁴⁷ ↩⁴⁸ ↩⁴⁹ ↩⁵⁰ ↩⁵¹ ↩⁵² ↩⁵³ ↩⁵⁴ ↩⁵⁵ ↩⁵⁶ ↩⁵⁷ ↩⁵⁸ ↩⁵⁹ ↩⁶⁰ ↩⁶¹ ↩⁶² ↩⁶³ ↩⁶⁴ ↩⁶⁵ ↩⁶⁶
Immigration Services Agency of Japan, “令和7年における外国人入国者数及び日本人出国者数等について” (final 2025 figures) and attached PDF, accessed October 2026, https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/publications/press/13_00063.html and https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/001459115.pdf ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹
Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO), “2024（令和6）年度日本人学生留学状況調査結果”, May 2026, accessed October 2026, https://www.studyinjapan.go.jp/ja/_mt/2026/05/data2024n.pdf ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), “「日本人学生の海外留学状況」及び「外国人留学生の在籍状況調査」について”, 29 May 2026, accessed October 2026, https://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/koutou/ryugaku/1412692_00003.htm ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰
Cabinet of Japan, written answer to House of Representatives question 211-072 on pension recipients living abroad (答弁第七二号), 13 June 2023, accessed October 2026, https://www.shugiin.go.jp/internet/itdb_shitsumon.nsf/html/shitsumon/b211072.htm ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹
Australian Government Department of Home Affairs, “BR0110 Working Holiday Maker visa program report, 30 June 2025”, accessed October 2026, https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/working-holiday-report-june-25.PDF ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, “ワーキング・ホリデー制度” (page dated 令和8年4月1日), accessed October 2026, https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/toko/visa/working_h.html (archived copy: http://web.archive.org/web/20261003093203/https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/toko/visa/working_h.html) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷
Bank of Japan, Time-Series Data Search, “実効為替レート（月次）” (nominal and real effective exchange rates, 2020 = 100; data to August 2026), accessed October 2026, https://www.stat-search.boj.or.jp/ssi/mtshtml/fm09_m_1.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, “海外在留邦人数調査統計平成30年版詳細版 (as of 1 October 2017)”, Excel, occupation of long-term stayers and definitions, accessed October 2026, https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/000394747.xlsx (archived copy: http://web.archive.org/web/2026id_/https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/000394747.xlsx) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, “海外在留邦人数調査統計” statistics index page (page dated 令和8年2月20日), accessed October 2026, https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/toko/tokei/hojin/index.html (archived copy: http://web.archive.org/web/20260829122859/https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/toko/tokei/hojin/index.html) ↩ ↩²
Immigration Services Agency of Japan, 出入国管理統計 2025 annual table “10 住所地別年齢（5歳階級）・性別出国日本人” (e-Stat, published 24 July 2026), accessed October 2026, https://www.e-stat.go.jp/stat-search/file-download?statInfId=000040476168&fileKind=4 (listing: https://www.e-stat.go.jp/stat-search/files?toukei=00250011) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰
Australian Government Department of Home Affairs, “BR0110 Working Holiday Maker visa program report, 31 December 2025”, accessed October 2026, https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/working-holiday-report-dec-25.pdf ↩ ↩² ↩³
UK Home Office (GOV.UK), “Immigration Rules Appendix Youth Mobility Scheme: eligible nationals”, updated 8 October 2026, accessed October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-youth-mobility-scheme-eligible-nationals ↩ ↩²
Immigration Services Agency of Japan, 出入国管理統計 2025 annual table “11 滞在期間別年齢（5歳階級）・性別帰国日本人” (e-Stat), accessed October 2026, https://www.e-stat.go.jp/stat-search/file-download?statInfId=000040476169&fileKind=4 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
United Nations DESA Population Division, “International Migrant Stock” (2024 edition), accessed October 2026, https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/content/international-migrant-stock ↩ ↩²
Statistics Bureau of Japan (MIC), “人口推計（2024年（令和6年）10月1日現在）”, accessed October 2026, https://www.stat.go.jp/data/jinsui/2024np/index.html ↩ ↩²
Immigration Services Agency of Japan, “令和7年における外国人入国者数及び日本人出国者数等について（速報値）” and attached PDF (superseded preliminary figures), accessed October 2026, https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/publications/press/13_00060.html and https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/001455228.pdf ↩ ↩²
Immigration Services Agency of Japan, 出入国管理統計 2025 annual table “6 国籍・地域別在留資格別出国外国人” (e-Stat), accessed October 2026, https://www.e-stat.go.jp/stat-search/file-download?statInfId=000040476161&fileKind=4 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, “海外在留邦人数調査統計令和6年（2024年）10月1日現在”, PDF, accessed October 2026, https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/100781392.pdf (archived copy: http://web.archive.org/web/20260829144829id_/https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/100781392.pdf) ↩
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, “海外在留邦人数調査統計令和5年（2023年）10月1日現在”, PDF, accessed October 2026, https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/100436737.pdf (archived copy: http://web.archive.org/web/2026id_/https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/100436737.pdf) ↩
Japan Pension Service, “年金を受けている方が誕生月を迎えたとき”, updated 1 April 2025, accessed October 2026, https://www.nenkin.go.jp/service/jukyu/tetsuduki/kyotsu/jukyu/20140421-11.html ↩ ↩²
National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education (NIAD-QE), NIC-Japan, “Number of Japanese Students Studying Abroad (1983-2024)”, accessed October 2026, https://www.nicjp.niad.ac.jp/en/japanese-system/JapaneseStudentsStudyingAbroad_1983-2024_EN.pdf ↩
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, “International Experience Canada: rounds of invitations”, page modified 16 October 2026, https://ircc.canada.ca/english/work/iec/selections.asp ↩
Bank of Japan, Time-Series Data Search, “外国為替相場（東京インターバンク相場）（月次）” (USD/JPY 17:00 monthly average; data to September 2026), accessed October 2026, https://www.stat-search.boj.or.jp/ssi/mtshtml/fm08_m_1.html ↩ ↩²
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, “毎月勤労統計調査 2025（令和7）年分結果確報”, 25 February 2026, accessed October 2026, https://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/itiran/roudou/monthly/r07/25cr/dl/pdf25cr.pdf ↩ ↩²
OECD, “Average annual wages” (constant prices, USD PPP, base year 2025), accessed October 2026, https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.ELS.SAE,DSD_EARNINGS@AV_AN_WAGE,/JPN+OECD+USA+KOR+DEU+GBR+AUS+CAN..........?startPeriod=2000 ↩ ↩² ↩³
Immigration Services Agency of Japan, “令和7年末現在における在留外国人数について”, press release, accessed October 2026, https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/publications/press/13_00062.html ↩