Number of foreign workers in Japan hits record-high 787,627

TOKYO – The number of foreign workers in Japan stood at 787,627 at the end of October, up 9.8 percent from a year earlier and marking a record high since 2007, when the government obliged companies to report the number of foreigners in their workforces, the labor ministry said Friday.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare attributed the increase to an improvement in employment conditions and efforts to promote the acceptance of highly skilled workers and students from abroad under the government’s growth strategy.

The number of foreign experts and engineers stood at 147,296, up 11.1 percent, while there were 125,216 foreign students working part time, up 22.2 percent.

By nationality, the number of Chinese workers and students working part time stood at 311,831, accounting for around 40 percent of the total, followed by 94,171 Brazilians and 91,519 Filipinos, according to the ministry.

The number of Vietnamese increased 63.0 percent from the previous year to 61,168 and the number of Nepalese grew 71.3 percent to 24,282 due to an increase in workers under the technical intern training program as well as students.

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