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Summary of Results of Internal Migration in 2008
Released on April 24, 2009
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The number of inter-prefectural migrants decreased for 13 straight years
- The number of Japanese internal migrants was 5,356,935 persons and the rate of migration was 4.25%, a decrease for 5 straight years.
- The number of Japanese inter-prefectural migrants was 2,508,533 persons and the rate of migration was 1.99%, a decrease for 13 straight years. This was the first decrease to a 1 % level rate of migration since 1954 when the compilation of statistics on internal migration began.
- The number of Japanese intra-prefectural migrants was 2,848,402 persons and the rate of migration was 2.26%, a decrease for 5 straight years.
The number of plus net-migration for Tokyo-to decreased by over 10,000 persons
- Regarding the net-migration for prefectures, 6 prefectures had plus net-migration: Tokyo-to (83,000 persons), Kanagawa-ken (29,646 persons), Chiba-ken (24,178 persons), and so on. Compared with the previous year, the number of plus net-migrations for Tokyo-to decreased for the first time in 5 years since 2003. The decrease exceeded 10,000 persons for the first time in 15 years since 1993. On the other hand, 41 prefectures had minus net-migration: Hokkaido (21,129 persons), Aomori-ken (9,266 persons), Nagasaki-ken (8,799 persons), and so on.
- The differential between Tokyo-to which had the highest plus rate of net-migration and Aomori-ken which had the lowest minus rate, was 1.49 points (Tokyo-to 0.76%, Aomori-ken -0.73%) in 2007 and 1.33 points (Tokyo-to 0.66%, Aomori-ken -0.67%) in 2008. Comparing two consecutive years, the differential among the prefectures narrowed.
The net-migration for 3 major metropolitan areas showed a large plus for 13 straight years
- The net-migration for 3 major metropolitan areas (Tokyo Area, Nagoya Area and Osaka Area) had a net migration of plus 154,078 persons for 13 straight years.
- The Tokyo Area had a net migration of plus 151,696 persons of net-migration. The rate of net-migration was 0.44%, exceeding 0.4% in the previous year. Among the 4 prefectures in the Tokyo Area, the number of plus net-migrations decreased in Tokyo-to and Kanagawa-ken, and increased in Saitama-ken and Chiba-ken, compared with the previous year.
- The Nagoya Area had a net migration of plus 13,525 persons. The rate of net-migration was 0.12%. The rate changed from minus to plus in 2003, and had been increasing from 2003 to 2006, but changed to decreasing in 2007. Among the 3 prefectures in the Nagoya Area, the number of plus net-migrations decreased in Aichi-ken, whereas minus net-migration increased in Gifu-ken and net-migration in Mie-ken changed to minus, compared with the previous year.
- The Osaka Area had a net migration of minus 11,143 persons. The rate of net-migration was 0.06%. Compared with the previous year, the rate had been decreasing from 2003 to 2008, except for 2007. Among all 4 prefectures in the Osaka Area, the number of minus net-migrations decreased, compared with the previous year.