Japan issued 1.29 million visas to foreign nationals in 2022, marking a roughly 14-fold increase from the previous year after it eased COVID-19 border control measures, the government has announced.
It is the first increase in three years, with the rise mainly down to a large increase in student and technical intern visas being issued, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.
The figure fell sharply during the pandemic, dipping to 1.12 million in 2020 when Japan began tightening border controls in an effort to curb coronavirus infections, and hit 90,306 in 2021, the lowest number since comparable data became available in 1999.
While last year's total is still far from the pre-pandemic record high of 8.28 million in 2019, the number is expected to continue to rise following the nation's removal of COVID-19-related border controls in April this year for all arrivals.
In China, 186,577 visas were issued, accounting for 14% of the total, followed by Vietnam with 177,329, the Philippines with 134,607, South Korea with 104,937, Indonesia with 92,663 and the United States with 88,557.