Turn your screen sideways to read the page at a larger size.

Contents
In brief

The country
- 3
123 million people, fewer and older every year
- 4
Deaths outnumber births, and Japan grows older

Where the market is now
- 5
Above 2019 and rising every year since 2022
- 6
Japan 6.9 per 1,000 residents, South Korea 5.5, Taiwan 32.9
- 7
Indonesia and Vietnam lead, Nepal rises fastest
- 8
The seven sourcing centres took 58.8% of new entries in 2025
- 9
Capped routes, 12.4 million fewer people aged 15 to 64

The outlook
- 10
About 395,000 new entries in 2026, 244,000 to 599,000
- 11
Rules opening, 17.2 percent fewer people aged 15 to 64
- 11
What could change this

Method and sources
- 12
How to read this report
- 12
Sources, photographs and flags
Cover: Tokyo at night, with Tokyo Tower lit among the towers of the city. Photograph by Andrey Grushnikov, Pexels.
Japan issues no separate work permit: the status of residence is the right to work. In 2025 it recorded 376,914 new entries on one of its 17 working statuses, up 10.9 percent on 2024 and 23.7 percent above 2019. Indonesia took 83,562 and Vietnam 80,786, and the seven sourcing centres, Indonesia and Vietnam among them, took 58.8 percent. Japan holds 6.9 statuses for trades per 1,000 residents, against 5.5 in South Korea and 32.9 in Taiwan. At the present pace Specified Skilled Worker residents reach their cap of 805,700 about April 2030, if the cap, set to March 2029, is held after it; the trainee route that replaces Technical Intern Training in April 2027 is capped below the 456,618 interns of 2025. Our estimate is about 395,000 new entries in 2026; for 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number, and the direction is rising. In 2031 the count held flat gives 376,000 and the working age scenario 466,000; with the trainee cap lifted, 548,000, and with both caps reached, 368,000: three scenarios, not forecasts.
New entries on a working status, 2025
New entries in 2026, 244,000 to 599,000
2031, working age scenario, not a forecast
Fewer people aged 15 to 64 by 2041
123 million people, fewer and older every year
Japan has 123.4 million people, 3,774,266 fewer than in 2015: deaths outnumber births, and net migration makes up only part of the gap. Output per head is 35,951 US dollars, two and a half times the world average, but the economy grew only 1.2 percent in 2025. The World Bank projects 12.4 million fewer people aged 15 to 64 by 2041.

People living in Japan in 2025, mid year
3.0 percent fewer than in 2015. People aged 65 and over were 30.0 percent of the population in 2025.
GDP in 2025, billion US dollars at current prices
At current prices and exchange rates.
GDP per head in 2025
250 percent of the world average of 14,406 US dollars in 2025.
Real growth in 2025
Against 2.9 percent across the world. Over 2021 to 2025 the economy grew 6.7 percent in all, the world 20.0 percent (our estimate from the yearly rates).
People aged 15 and over in work, 2025
Against 58.1 percent across the world. An estimate of the International Labour Organization.
Two routes for hiring
Sources: World Bank, World Development Indicators (population, GDP, GDP per head, growth, and the ILO estimate of employment), retrieved 27 September 2026. Population is the mid year estimate. Key dates: Immigration Services Agency, Specified Skilled Worker overview and Act No. 60 of 2024 (moj.go.jp/isa); retrieved 27 September 2026.
Deaths outnumber births, and Japan grows older
In 2023 deaths exceeded births by about 872,000, and net migration added about 175,000
On the UN's estimate, net migration made up about a fifth of the natural loss in 2023, the last year it estimates; the bars for 2024 and 2025 are its projection.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (net migration and crude birth and death rates from UN World Population Prospects 2024, whose estimates end in 2023; later years are its projection), retrieved 27 September 2026. Births minus deaths is our arithmetic on the crude rates. Not yet published: births minus deaths for 2025.
About 110.97 million people by 2041 on the World Bank's projection
Estimated to 2025, then the World Bank's projection in the lighter line.
Source: World Bank, SP.POP.TOTL (World Development Indicators); World Bank, population projection based on UN World Population Prospects 2024; retrieved 27 September 2026.
The share aged 65 and over rises to 36%
Source: World Bank, population estimates and projections, retrieved 27 September 2026.
4,435.2 billion US dollars in 2025, and the IMF forecast to 2031
Real growth under each year: observed to 2025 (World Bank), the IMF forecast after. Sources: World Bank, NY.GDP.MKTP.CD; IMF, World Economic Outlook April 2026; Werklist calculation; retrieved 27 September 2026.
Request the full report
All 13 pages as a PDF, sent to your email.
Page 1 of 13Use the arrow keys, the buttons or swipe to move between pages.Swipe to turn the page. Pinch to zoom.
ReportsAbove 2019 and rising every year since 2022
Up every year since 2022, and 23.7 percent above 2019 in 2025
Japan recorded 376,914 new entries on a working status in 2025, against 340,006 in 2024 and 304,707 in 2019.
Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, new entrant foreign nationals by status of residence (e-Stat annual tables 23-00-05 to 25-00-05), our sum of the 17 working statuses, 2019 to 2025; retrieved 27 September 2026.
Japan issues no separate work permit: a status of residence gives the right to work. This count is new entries from abroad on the 17 working statuses; renewals and changes of status inside Japan are not in it.
What the national count is
New entries of foreign nationals into Japan on one of the 17 working statuses of residence of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, in a calendar year, from the landing records of the Immigration Services Agency. It is a yearly flow, not the number living in Japan.
Technical interns took 41.7% of the 2025 entries
New entries of 2025 by working status of residence.
Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, e-Stat table 25-00-05, retrieved 27 September 2026; the other 14 statuses are our arithmetic on the total.
Japan 6.9 per 1,000 residents, South Korea 5.5, Taiwan 32.9
Statuses for trades held at year end, per 1,000 residents
Japan: Technical Intern Training and Specified Skilled Worker statuses held at the end of each year. South Korea: E-9 statuses held under the Employment Permit System at the end of the year. Both are stocks, divided by the mid year population.
Sources: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, resident foreign nationals by nationality and status of residence, end of 2023 to 2025 (e-Stat); Ministry of Employment and Labor, Korea, E-9 holders employed at the end of the fourth quarter (index.go.kr, indicator 1501); World Bank, SP.POP.TOTL (mid year population); retrieved 27 September 2026. Werklist calculation.
Per 1,000 residents in 2025, the statuses for trades
| Per 1,000 residents | 6.9 | 5.5 | 32.9 |
| Statuses and permits held, thousands | 847 | 283 | 766 |
Sources: as the chart; Ministry of Labor, Taiwan, foreign nationals on employment permits for industry and care, 2025 (data.gov.tw, dataset 41882); IMF, World Economic Outlook April 2026 (population of Taiwan); retrieved 27 September 2026. Werklist calculation.
At the end of 2025, 846,914 statuses for trades were held in Japan, a stock, 6.9 for every 1,000 residents, up from 4.9 two years earlier. South Korea's E‑9 statuses rose more slowly, to 5.5, and its quota falls from 165,000 in 2024 to 80,000 in 2026. Taiwan had 766,212 employment permits for industry and care in force in 2025, 32.9 per 1,000.
Caps and quotas for hires in trades
Sources: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, Cabinet decision of 23 January 2026; Human Resources Development Service of Korea, EPS quota page, and Foreign Workforce Policy Committee, 22 December 2025 (korea.net); Ministry of Labor, Taiwan, dataset 41882; retrieved 27 September 2026.
Indonesia and Vietnam lead, Nepal rises fastest
Indonesia overtook Vietnam in 2025, with 83,562 new entries against 80,786; Vietnam had led every year before. Nepal rose by half, to 19,868, and the seven sourcing centres, Vietnam among them, took 58.8 percent.
| Nationality | Entries 2024 | Entries 2025 | Share 2024 | Share 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 59,827 | 83,562 | 17.6% | 22.2% | |
| 86,748 | 80,786 | 25.5% | 21.4% | |
| 33,649 | 38,809 | 9.9% | 10.3% | |
| 33,244 | 30,527 | 9.8% | 8.1% | |
| 27,069 | 28,122 | 8.0% | 7.5% | |
| 13,029 | 19,868 | 3.8% | 5.3% | |
| 18,112 | 19,060 | 5.3% | 5.1% | |
| 9,040 | 10,071 | 2.7% | 2.7% | |
| 6,596 | 8,371 | 1.9% | 2.2% | |
| 7,593 | 7,205 | 2.2% | 1.9% | |
| Other origins | 45,099 | 50,533 | 13.3% | 13.4% |
| All origins | 340,006 | 376,914 | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, new entrant foreign nationals by nationality and status of residence (e-Stat annual tables 24-00-05 and 25-00-05), our sum of the 17 working statuses, retrieved 27 September 2026.
Indonesia alone took 22.2% of new entries in 2025
Shares of new entries on a working status in 2025, by nationality.
Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, e-Stat table 25-00-05, our sum of the 17 working statuses, retrieved 27 September 2026.
The seven sourcing centres took 221,516 of the 376,914 new entries
New entries on a working status of residence in 2025 for each of the seven sourcing centres of Werklist, against all new entries.
Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, new entrant foreign nationals by nationality and status of residence (e-Stat annual table 25-00-05), our sum of the 17 working statuses, retrieved 27 September 2026.
The seven sourcing centres took 58.8% of new entries in 2025
New entries on a working status of residence by nationality, 2019 to 2025
Vietnam led every year to 2024 but fell from 113,027 entries in 2019 to 80,786, while Indonesia rose from 18,621 to 83,562 and Nepal from 1,082 to 19,868. Entries fell to 33,952 in 2021, during the border closures of the pandemic, and passed the 2019 level in 2023.
Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, new entrant foreign nationals by nationality and status of residence, e-Stat annual tables of 2019 to 2025 (statInfId 000031961966, 000032104452, 000032216459, 000040067666, 000040187824, 000040292944, 000040476160), our sum of the 17 working statuses; retrieved 27 September 2026.
The seven sourcing centres in 2025: Indonesia 83,562 new entries, Vietnam 80,786, the Philippines 28,122, Nepal 19,868, India 6,246, Bangladesh 2,612 and Uzbekistan 320, 221,516 in all.
| Nationality | 2019 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Share 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18,621 | 57,105 | 59,827 | 83,562 | 22.2% | |
| 113,027 | 105,323 | 86,748 | 80,786 | 21.4% | |
| 55,273 | 34,030 | 33,649 | 38,809 | 10.3% | |
| 8,187 | 22,486 | 33,244 | 30,527 | 8.1% | |
| 24,579 | 28,004 | 27,069 | 28,122 | 7.5% | |
| 1,082 | 8,088 | 13,029 | 19,868 | 5.3% | |
| 14,539 | 13,412 | 18,112 | 19,060 | 5.1% | |
| 11,809 | 7,937 | 9,040 | 10,071 | 2.7% | |
| 5,252 | 5,500 | 5,475 | 6,246 | 1.7% | |
| 463 | 1,420 | 1,715 | 2,612 | 0.7% | |
| 109 | 327 | 251 | 320 | 0.1% | |
| Other origins | 51,766 | 49,300 | 51,847 | 56,931 | 15.1% |
| All origins | 304,707 | 332,932 | 340,006 | 376,914 | 100.0% |
Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, new entrant foreign nationals by nationality and status of residence, e-Stat annual tables of 2019 to 2025 (statInfId 000031961966, 000032104452, 000032216459, 000040067666, 000040187824, 000040292944, 000040476160), our sum of the 17 working statuses; retrieved 27 September 2026.
Capped routes, 12.4 million fewer people aged 15 to 64
The rules as they stand on 27 September 2026
A Cabinet decision of 23 January 2026 caps Specified Skilled Worker (i) residents at 805,700 to March 2029, field by field; 425,961 held the status on 30 June 2026.
The same decision added three fields, linen supply, logistics warehousing and resource recycling, with 16,600 places to March 2029.
Specified Skilled Worker (i) allows 5 years in all, without family. The employer pays at least a Japanese employee's wage and runs a support plan, itself or through a registered support organisation.
The employer's staff in Japan may file for the certificate of eligibility a hire needs before the visa; the agency's standard processing time is 1 to 3 months.
Act No. 60 of 2024 abolishes Technical Intern Training. Employment for Skill Development replaces it, capped at 426,200; a hire first passes an A1 Japanese test or takes 100 hours of classes.
The minimum wage averages 1,121 yen an hour in fiscal 2025, about 6.63 euros at the ECB 2025 average of 169.04 yen: from 1,023 yen in the lowest prefectures to 1,226 in Tokyo.
Sources: Act No. 60 of 2024 of 21 June 2024; Cabinet decision of 23 January 2026 and the Specified Skilled Worker table at 30 June 2026, preliminary; Immigration Services Agency, Specified Skilled Worker overview, certificate of eligibility page, Employment for Skill Development questions and answers; Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, minimum wages 2025; ECB. All retrieved 27 September 2026.
About 12,400,000 fewer people aged 15 to 64 by 2041
The World Bank's projection gives 72,026,970 in 2026 and 59,614,716 in 2041, a fall of 17.2 percent.
Source: World Bank, population estimates and projections (SP.POP.1564.TO, based on UN World Population Prospects 2024), retrieved 27 September 2026.
Unemployment in 2025, against 4.8 percent across the world
The ILO estimate of unemployment, 2.5 percent of the labour force in 2025.
World Bank, SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS (ILO estimate), retrieved 27 September 2026
New entries as technical interns, 2025
Against 76,104 on the Specified Skilled Worker status. Act No. 60 of 2024 ends the intern route on 1 April 2027.
Immigration Services Agency of Japan, e-Stat table 25-00-05, retrieved 27 September 2026
About 395,000 new entries in 2026, 244,000 to 599,000
We expect about 395,000 new entries in 2026, the change of the last five years carried forward, damped. For 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number; the direction is rising. In 2031 the count held flat gives 376,000 and the working age scenario 466,000, with the trainee route that replaces Technical Intern Training on 1 April 2027 kept under its cap of 426,200. With that cap lifted, 548,000; with both caps reached, 368,000.
New entries in 2026, our estimate
between 244,000 and 599,000
New entries a year in 2031, the working age scenario, not a forecast
held flat 376,000; trainee cap lifted 548,000, a scenario; both caps reached 368,000, a scenario
Direction of the rules and of the count
New entries in 2027: rising; the range is too wide for a yearly number
The working age scenario gives 466,000 in 2031 and 570,000 in 2041
New entries to 2025, then our estimate with its range for 2026; for 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number and the direction is rising. The working age scenario, not a forecast, moves toward 869,000 a year, 1.05 times the yearly loss of people aged 15 to 64; the trainee route is full in 2030, which bends it to 466,000 in 2031. Trainee cap lifted and both caps reached are scenarios too; the second is a bound, not a sized estimate. No peers' line is drawn: no destination in East Asia counts new entries this way.
Source: Werklist estimate from the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, new entries on the 17 working statuses (2019 to 2025); 2026 carries the change of the last five years, damped; 2027 is given as a direction, rising. The lines from 2027: the working age scenario moves toward 869,000 a year, 1.05 times the yearly fall of people aged 15 to 64 (World Bank), halving the gap every 12 years, with Employment for Skill Development under its cap of 426,200 residents (open from 1 April 2027, full in 2030, then about 146,700 entries a year); trainee cap lifted, the same line without that cap; both caps reached also stops Specified Skilled Worker (i) residents at 805,700 from about April 2030 (growth of about 98,400 a year) and takes that growth out of entries, a bound; held flat, the 2025 count. Caps: Act No. 60 of 2024 and the Cabinet decision of 23 January 2026, held after March 2029 until new caps are set. The method's calibration, not a comparison: the ratio 1.05 and the range of 2026 come from its back test on Eurostat first residence permits for work of EU and EFTA countries. Retrieved 27 September 2026. Values rounded to three significant figures; Low and High give the range of 2026.
Rules opening, 17.2 percent fewer people aged 15 to 64
Where each count is heading
No split of the estimate by nationality is made, so this card lists where each count is heading instead.
Cabinet decision of 23 January 2026: 805,700 Specified Skilled Worker places to March 2029; the new training status starts on 1 April 2027, capped at 426,200.
376,914 in 2025.
123.37 million in 2025, 118.44 million in 2031, 114.47 million in 2036, on the World Bank's projection.
72.03 million in 2026, 69.19 million in 2031, 64.92 million in 2036, on the World Bank's projection.
Sources: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, Cabinet decision of 23 January 2026, Act No. 60 of 2024 and new entries 2019 to 2025 (the directions of the rules and of the count); World Bank, population estimates and projections (SP.POP.1564.TO, based on UN World Population Prospects 2024); retrieved 27 September 2026.
The drivers of the estimate
The working age and the count's own trend enter the working age scenario; the other numbers stand beside it.
17.2 percent fewer from 2026 to 2041. It enters the working age scenario: toward 869,000 a year, 1.05 times this loss.
The mean yearly change of the last five years, carried into the working age scenario and damped by half each year: a factor of 1.10 at most.
The IMF's projection of real GDP growth for the year the estimate starts.
Of the labour force, the IMF's projection for the year the estimate starts.
No destination in East Asia counts new entries this way, so no peers' rate is compared.
Sources: World Bank population projections (UN World Population Prospects 2024); Immigration Services Agency of Japan, new entries 2019 to 2025 (the count's own trend, a Werklist calculation); IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2026; retrieved 27 September 2026.
What could change this
The working age scenario carries the trainee cap, and both caps reached also the Specified Skilled Worker cap; the new fields enter neither. Once full, the trainee cap allows about 146,700 entries a year, fewer than the 157,217 of 2025.
The ceilings after March 2029
Both caps, 805,700 and 426,200, run to March 2029, and no later ceiling is set; our lines hold them. At about 98,400 more a year, Specified Skilled Worker (i) residents reach 805,700 about April 2030; both caps reached, a scenario, takes that stop out of entries: 368,000 in 2031.
Technical Intern Training ends
Act No. 60 of 2024 ends the status on 1 April 2027. Its successor, Employment for Skill Development, is capped at 426,200 residents, below the 456,618 interns of 2025, and is full in 2030. The working age scenario carries the cap, 466,000 in 2031; without it, 548,000.
Three new fields
The decision of 23 January 2026 added linen supply, logistics warehousing and resource recycling, with 16,600 places to March 2029.
How to read this report
What the national count is
New entries of foreign nationals into Japan on one of the 17 working statuses of residence in a calendar year, from the Immigration Services Agency landing records. Japan issues no separate work permit. Renewals and changes of status inside Japan are not in the count.
What the range and the lines mean
The estimate for 2026 has a low and a high end, and we expect the real number between them. For 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number, so we give the direction, rising. After that, the held line, a stated assumption, and three scenarios, not forecasts. Observed numbers are solid lines, estimates and lines dashed.
How the estimate is made
We start from the 376,914 new entries of 2025 and carry the change of the last five years forward, damped: about 395,000 in 2026. The working age scenario then moves toward 869,000 a year, 1.05 times the yearly loss of people aged 15 to 64, under the trainee cap; a second scenario lifts that cap, a third holds both caps. The held line keeps 376,000.
Numbers, dates and words
Past counts are printed exactly; estimates are rounded to three significant figures. The comparison with South Korea and Taiwan is our arithmetic on their national counts and population. Entries are counted, not people. Page 6 counts statuses for trades held at year end, a stock, and employment permits in force in Taiwan. People appear only where we speak of the population.
Sources
Every source retrieved 27 September 2026.
- Immigration Services Agency of Japan, new entrant foreign nationals by nationality and status of residence, annual tables 23-00-05, 24-00-05 and 25-00-05 on e-Stat, our sum of the 17 working statuses, 2019 to 2025. e-stat.go.jp
- World Bank, World Development Indicators and population estimates and projections (population, age, births, deaths, net migration, GDP, employment, unemployment). data.worldbank.org
- International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook, April 2026, real GDP growth. imf.org/
external/ datamapper - Immigration Services Agency of Japan, Cabinet decision of 23 January 2026 on the caps to March 2029; Specified Skilled Worker residents at 30 June 2026, preliminary; Specified Skilled Worker overview; certificate of eligibility page. moj.go.jp/
isa - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, International Migration Outlook 2025, country note on Japan, Japanese citizens moving to member countries, 2023. oecd.org
- Immigration Services Agency of Japan, Act No. 60 of 2024, promulgated 21 June 2024, in force 1 April 2027; Employment for Skill Development questions and answers. moj.go.jp/
isa/ 03_00163.html - Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, regional minimum wages for fiscal 2025. mhlw.go.jp
- European Central Bank, euro reference rate for the yen, 2025 average. data.ecb.europa.eu
- Ministry of Employment and Labor, Korea, E-9 holders under the Employment Permit System, end of the fourth quarter, 2023 to 2025 (indicator 1501); yearly quotas, EPS portal and Foreign Workforce Policy Committee of 22 December 2025. index.go.kr, eps.go.kr, korea.net
- Ministry of Labor, Taiwan, foreign nationals on employment permits for industry and care, by nationality, 2025 (dataset 41882). data.gov.tw/
dataset/ 41882 - Immigration Services Agency of Japan, resident foreign nationals by nationality and status of residence, end of 2023, 2024 and 2025, on e-Stat. e-stat.go.jp
Photographs and flags
Pexels: Tokyo at night, Andrey Grushnikov (cover); Kyoto at sunrise, Vasilis Karkalas (page 3); the Yokohama waterfront, Alix Lee; central Osaka, Stephan; tower cranes, Airam Dato-on; bullet trains at Tokyo Station, Justin Brinkhoff; Mount Fuji at dusk, Andrea Orfino (back cover). Flags: circle-flags by HatScripts, MIT licence.
What this report answers
How many new entries on a working status of residence has Japan recorded each year since 2019?
376,914 in 2025, up from 340,006 in 2024 and 304,707 in 2019. Entries fell to 33,952 in 2021 during the border closures, passed the 2019 level in 2023 and have risen every year since 2022.
Which countries do the new hires come from, and which are growing?
Indonesia overtook Vietnam in 2025 with 83,562 new entries against 80,786, and Nepal rose by half to 19,868. The seven sourcing centres of Werklist, Indonesia and Vietnam among them, took 58.8%.
How does Japan compare with its neighbours per resident?
At the end of 2025 Japan held 6.9 statuses for trades for every 1,000 residents, up from 4.9 two years earlier, against 5.5 in South Korea and 32.9 in Taiwan.
Which rules apply to employers who hire from abroad?
Specified Skilled Worker (i) is capped at 805,700 residents to March 2029, and the employer pays at least a Japanese employee's wage and runs a support plan. From April 2027 Employment for Skill Development replaces Technical Intern Training, capped at 426,200.
How is the working age population changing?
The World Bank projects 72.03 million people aged 15 to 64 in 2026 and 59.61 million in 2041: 17.2 percent fewer, about 827,000 fewer each year.
How many new entries on a working status do we expect Japan to record in 2026, and what comes after?
About 395,000 in 2026, between 244,000 and 599,000. For 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number; the direction is rising. In 2031 the count held flat gives 376,000 and the working age scenario, not a forecast, 466,000, with the trainee route under its cap.
The full report answers each question with its figures, charts and sources. Request the full report