Press Releases
Statistics for the Number of Visas Issued in 2013
1. The total number of visas issued at the diplomatic missions of Japan abroad in 2013 was 1,864,425, fell by 6.1% from 2012 (*1, *2).
2. Main points of the statistics are following.
(1) The total number of visas issued in 2013 decreased around 120,000 from the previous year.
(2) Due to the Japanese government's visa relaxation policy for the ASEAN countries including visa exemption for Thai and Malaysian which started on 1st of July in 2013, the total number of visas issued in 2013 decreased. However, the number of foreign visitors to Japan increased in 2013 and exceeded 10 million for the first time.
(3) The number of visas issued to Chinese, Thai, Indonesian, Filipinos, Malaysian and Vietnamese accounts for around 80 % of the total number of visas issued.
(4) The number of visas issued to Chinese tourists declined significantly in September 2012 and this situation lasted until the first half of 2013. Although the number of tourists from China started to recover in the second half of 2013, the total number of visas issued to Chinese in 2013 did not reach the number of visas issued in 2012.
3. The number of visas issued by nationality and region is as follows (in descending order): China (971,542), Thailand (183,684), Indonesia (122,376), the Philippines (99,258), Malaysia (70,231), Vietnam (65,305), India (55,622), Russia (54,948), Brazil (28,697), ROK (21,644). The number of visas issued in these ten countries accounts for around 90% of the total number of visas issued.
4. The number of visas issued by diplomatic missions of Japan abroad is as follows (in descending order of the number of visas issued): Consulate-General of Japan in Shanghai (371,258), Embassy of Japan in China (235,482), Embassy of Japan in Thailand (178,973), Consulate-General of Japan in Guangzhou (144,496), Embassy of Japan in Indonesia (91,860), Embassy of Japan in the Philippines (89,180), Consulate-General of Japan in Shenyang (64,461), Consulate General of Japan at Qingdao (47,085),Consular Office of Japan in Dalian (46,131), Embassy of Japan in Malaysia (44,484). The number of visas issued in these ten diplomatic missions of Japan accounts for around 70% of the total number of visas issued. Among the ten missions, six are in China.
*1 66 countries and regions have Visa Exemption Arrangements with Japan as of July 1st 2013.
*2 The number of visa issued differs from the number of foreign nationals entering Japan which is released by the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice.
(* The foregoing is a provisional translation. The date indicated above denotes the date of issue of the original press release in Japanese.)
(Open a New Window)