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Population of Hokkaido: 5,228,885 – Eighth Largest Prefectural Population in Japan, 2020 Preliminary Census Report

On June 25, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced the preliminary results of the 2020 national census. As of October 1, 2020, the population of Hokkaido, including foreign nationals, was 5,228,885, which was the eighth largest prefectural population in Japan, and showed a decrease of 152,848 or 2.8% from the previous census.

Nationally, Japan’s population was 126,226,568, which showed a decrease of 868,177 from the previous census in 2015. This meant a consecutive negative figure from the 2015 value, when a decrease was recorded for the first time since the census started in 1920. However, the decreasing rate had declined from 0.8% to 0.7% due to an increase in foreign nationals.

The population in 38 prefectures, including Hokkaido, decreased while it increased in nine prefectures. The population of the Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa, increased by 800,000 to 36.93 million, accounting for approximately 30% of the total population, and highlighting the fact that Tokyo is becoming more concentrated.

According to the United Nations’ estimates, Japan’s population, which had been the 10th highest in the world in the previous survey, had been overtaken by Mexico and dropped to 11th place.

By prefecture, Tokyo had the largest population with 14,064,696, and Hokkaido the eighth largest population with 5,228,885. The top eight prefectures accounted for more than 50% of the national total.

The population density of Hokkaido was the lowest in Japan at 66.7 people/km2, which was approximately 96 times higher than the highest population density of 6410.4 people/km2 in Tokyo.

Looking at the population increase/decrease rate by prefecture, Hokkaido’s population decreased by 2.8%, which was a greater decrease than the 2.3% seen at the time of the previous census. Tokyo had the highest increase rate, with an increase of 4.1% over the previous time.

Looking at the population increase/decrease by municipality, Sapporo was the only city in Hokkaido that ranked among the 20 municipalities nationwide with the largest population growth. The city’s population increased by 22,709 to 1,975,065, accounting for approximately 37.8% of the population of Hokkaido.

On the other hand, municipalities with a large population decline included Hakodate City (decrease of 14,708 people, population of 251,271), Otaru City (decrease of 10,502 people, population of 111,422), Asahikawa City (decrease of 10,092 people, population of 329,513).

Looking at the population increase/decrease rate, Shimukappu Village in Hokkaido (7.9% increase, population of 1,307) was included in the top 20 municipalities with a high growth rate, and Tsukigata Town (19.3% decrease, population of 3,692), Kamisunagawa Town (18.2% decrease, population of 2,847), Yubari City (17% decrease, population of 7,341), and Utashinai City (16.6% decrease, population of 2,989 people) were included in the municipalities with a high decrease rate.

(Excerpt from an article on Monday, June 28, 2021)

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