Workforce Migration Report 2026: Japan

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Workforce Migration Report 2026
Japan
376,914
New entries on a working status of residence in 2025, the national count

Contents

In brief

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.

Observed

New entries on a working status, 2025

376,914
Our estimate

New entries in 2026, 244,000 to 599,000

395,000
Our estimate

2031, working age scenario, not a forecast

466,000
World Bank projection

Fewer people aged 15 to 64 by 2041

12,400,000

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.

Kyoto at sunrise

People living in Japan in 2025, mid year

123.4million

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

4,435.2

At current prices and exchange rates.

GDP per head in 2025

35,951dollars

250 percent of the world average of 14,406 US dollars in 2025.

Real growth in 2025

1.2%

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

61.9%

Against 58.1 percent across the world. An estimate of the International Labour Organization.

Two routes for hiring

1 April 2019The Specified Skilled Worker status opens to hires in listed fields.
1 April 2027Employment for Skill Development replaces Technical Intern Training.

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.

Births minus deathsNet migration
−1,000,000−500,0000+500,0002019202020212022202320242025Births minus deathsNet migrationChange in the population−531,859+318,190−213,669−542,922+42,001−500,921−640,976−34,996−675,972−825,825+175,003−650,822−871,617+175,003−696,614−942,213+153,357−788,856+140,579

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.

110 million115 million120 million125 million130 millionWorld Bank projection127.14 million in 2015123.37 million in 2025110.97 million in 2041201520202025203120362041

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%

0 to 1415 to 6465 and over
2025, observed11.2%58.8%30.0%2041, the World Bank's projection10.5%53.7%35.8%

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

Billion US dollars, 2025 pricesIMF forecast
4,0004,2004,4004,6004,8004,435.2 in 20254,601.8 in 203120171.6%2019-0.3%20213.6%20230.7%20251.2%20270.6%20290.6%20310.6%

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.

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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