Ryu Araki

Tag: Demographics

  • Japan lost 3.17 million residents in five years. It gained almost 1.5 million households.

    The final 2025 census, released on September 29, 2026, puts Japan’s population at 122,972,528, down 2.5% from 2020. Tokyo was the only prefecture to record population growth.

    Total households moved the other way: 57,324,619, up by 1,494,465.

    Among private households, excluding institutional households such as those in care facilities and school dormitories, average household size fell from 2.21 people to 2.10. One-person households reached 23.69 million, or 41.4% of private households.

    What fascinates me is how differently the same numbers can look depending on where you stand.

    For a landlord, more households could mean more potential tenants. For a business serving young children, a shrinking population could mean a tougher market.

    The same demographic shift can create opportunities for some and challenges for others.

    Statistics don’t tell us exactly what the future holds, but they give us clues about where the world is heading.

    That’s why I want to keep paying attention.

    Source:
    Statistics Bureau of Japan, final 2025 census
    https://lnkd.in/eTKmVgks

  • Japan Lost 918,263 People in One Year. That Is Almost a City the Size of Chiba, Gone.

    The final 2025 figures came out last month. Births: 671,270. Deaths: 1,589,533. The gap: 918,263. Chiba City has about 999,000 residents.

    Three things stand out.

    First, this is the 19th year in a row. Deaths first overtook births in 2005. In 2015 the gap was 284,789. A decade later it is more than three times larger.

    Second, deaths actually fell in 2025, for the first time in five years. The gap barely moved, because births kept falling.

    Third, births are now less than half of deaths. Even if the birth rate recovered tomorrow, the generation that would have those children is already smaller than the one before it.

    For investors, this is not a forecast. It is already in the numbers: fewer customers, fewer workers and fewer taxpayers in Japan every year.

    What do you think is the most underestimated consequence?

    Source: MHLW, Vital Statistics 2025 (final)