Tokyo, Japan Population

Population in Urban Area, now

37,256,375
  • World: 1st
  • Asia: 1st
  • Japan: 1st

Population in City Area, 2022-03-09

8,336,599
  • World: 25th
  • Asia: 18th
  • Japan: 1st

Tokyo Urban Area Population Graph

Tokyo Population Review

Tokyo, Japan's capital and its most densely populated city, is also the world's largest metropolitan area, with roughly 37.4 million people calling its three prefectures home. Recent population estimates for Tokyo hold that around 8.3 million people live just within the city's traditional boundaries. Tokyo's thriving population shows no signs of stopping. By 2035, experts predict that Tokyo's metro area will be home to more than 36 million souls.

Tokyo is divided into 23 wards that form the boundaries for the city, although those boundaries were officially done away with back in the 40s with prefecture mergers. The modern-day city of Tokyo encompasses far more square miles than it did back in the early 20th century, forming what experts call one of the biggest examples of urban sprawl in the world. Because of this, explaining how many people call Tokyo home can be challenging.

1/4th of Japan's Population Live in Tokyo

One thing's certain; there a lot of people calling Tokyo home, regardless of which side of the old boundaries they live on. In fact, 25 percent, a full 1/4th of the population of the entire country, lives within the greater Tokyo metropolitan area, even though the land upon which Tokyo stands only accounts for 0.6 percent of Japan's total land area. To put the size of Japan's metro area in perspective, it is a full 1.5 times bigger than the next biggest metro area in the world, which is Seoul, South Korea.

First Asian City to Reach 1 Million People

Tokyo, once known as Edo, has a long history of being one of the biggest and most popular cities on the Asian continent. By the 1720s, it had gained a milestone distinction of being the first city in Asia to reach a population marker of 1 million people. That number doubled by 1900, and by 1940, there were 7 million people living in the metro area surrounding Tokyo.

Interesting Facts About Tokyo's Population

Men slightly outnumber women in Tokyo; there is an average of 97.5 men for every 100 women. It seems everyone is texting and talking in this busy Asian hub; in 2018, there were more than 16.9 million mobile phone subscriptions just in the main city, and nearly as many broadband contracts—12.7 million. When Tokyo's millions of residents aren't sipping coffee or tea at its 317 Starbucks locations, they're putting away a massive amount of port—some 114 million liters—and beer, around 736 million liters, based on 2018 figures.

Review Updated: June 26, 2019
Tokyo TowerTokyo Tower

Tokyo Urban Area Population History

1950 11,275,000
1951 11,725,000
1952 12,194,000
1953 12,680,000
1954 13,186,000
1955 13,713,000
1956 14,261,000
1957 14,830,000
1958 15,422,000
1959 16,038,000
1960 16,679,000
1961 17,344,000
1962 18,036,000
1963 18,757,000
1964 19,507,000
1965 20,284,000
1966 20,905,000
1967 21,479,000
1968 22,070,000
1969 22,675,000
1970 23,298,000
1971 23,928,000
1972 24,574,000
1973 25,236,000
1974 25,916,000
1975 26,615,000
1976 27,063,000
1977 27,427,000
1978 27,795,000
1979 28,169,000
1980 28,549,000
1981 28,900,000
1982 29,244,000
1983 29,593,000
1984 29,947,000
1985 30,304,000
1986 30,721,000
1987 31,164,000
1988 31,613,000
1989 32,068,000
1990 32,530,000
1991 32,794,000
1992 32,990,000
1993 33,188,000
1994 33,387,000
1995 33,587,000
1996 33,764,000
1997 33,934,000
1998 34,105,000
1999 34,277,000
2000 34,450,000
2001 34,669,000
2002 34,904,000
2003 35,142,000
2004 35,381,000
2005 35,622,000
2006 35,865,000
2007 36,111,000
2008 36,359,000
2009 36,609,000
2010 36,860,000
2011 36,975,000
2012 37,046,000
2013 37,116,000
2014 37,186,000
2015 37,256,000
2016 37,327,000
2017 37,397,000
2018 37,468,000
2019 37,435,000
2020 37,393,000
2021 37,340,000
2022 37,274,000
2023 37,194,000
2024 37,115,000

Tokyo Urban Area Population Projections

2025 37,036,000
2026 36,954,000
2027 36,866,000
2028 36,773,000
2029 36,675,000
2030 36,574,000
2031 36,469,000
2032 36,360,000
2033 36,248,000
2034 36,132,000
2035 36,014,000

Map of Tokyo, Japan

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