Japanese travelers made 16.2 million trips abroad in 2001, down by 1.6 million from a year earlier, according to a Justice Ministry report released Tuesday.

It is the third-lowest figure recorded since the number of overseas trips by Japanese topped the 15 million mark in 1995, according to the report by the ministry's Immigration Bureau.

Meanwhile, there was a record 5.28 million visitors to Japan in 2001, up by 8,000 from a year earlier, it said.