Japan’s foreign resident population was about 4.12 million at the end of 2025 , which is roughly 3.3% of Japan’s total population using a population of about 123 million. Japan’s foreign population also set a record high for the third year in a row.

Ethnicity and nationality

Japan does not publish a simple “ethnicity” count in the same way it reports foreign residents, so most public stats use nationality or legal residency status instead. A widely cited estimate puts Japan’s ethnic makeup at about 97.5% Japanese , with the remainder mainly Chinese, Vietnamese, South Korean, and other groups.

What “foreigners” means in stats

  • Foreign residents = people living in Japan who do not have Japanese nationality.
  • This is not the same as ethnicity, because many people of non-Japanese ancestry may be Japanese citizens, and some long-term Korean residents are counted differently in various datasets.
  • The largest foreign resident groups in recent official reporting were Chinese, Vietnamese, and South Korean nationals.

Quick numbers

Measure| Latest figure| Source
---|---|---
Foreign residents in Japan| 4.12 million| 4
Share of total population| About 3.3%| 4
Estimated ethnic Japanese share| 97.5%| 7

Japan’s foreign population has been rising fast, so the share is now noticeably higher than it was a decade ago.