2026 Volume 21 Issue 4 Pages 1-33
As the number of foreign workers in Japan has surged, there is a growing demand for more comprehensive official statistics that can provide detailed insights into the work and daily lives of foreign nationals. In response to this demand, a status of residence item was added to the Basic Survey on Wage Structure in 2019, and a new Survey on the Employment Situation of Foreign Workers was established in 2023. This paper summarizes the new information that can be obtained through these updated and newly introduced official statistics. It also reviews existing statistics concerning the entry, residency, and employment of foreign nationals, including the Statistics on Legal Migrants, the Statistics on Foreign Nationals, the Population Census, and the Notification of Employment Status of Foreign Nationals. By covering both old and new official statistics, the paper illustrates the relationships and complementarities between them, providing insights into the usefulness of these newly introduced statistics. However, none of the surveys alone can fully capture the reality of foreign employment in Japan. It is crucial to understand the scope and limitations of each survey to use them appropriately.
