On June 25, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced the preliminary results of the 2020 national census. As of October 1, 2020, the population of Hokkaido, including foreign nationals, was 5,228,885, which was the eighth largest prefectural population in Japan, and showed a decrease of 152,848 or 2.8% from the previous census.

Nationally, Japan’s population was 126,226,568, which showed a decrease of 868,177 from the previous census in 2015. This meant a consecutive negative figure from the 2015 value, when a decrease was recorded for the first time since the census started in 1920. However, the decreasing rate had declined from 0.8% to 0.7% due to an increase in foreign nationals.

The population in 38 prefectures, including Hokkaido, decreased while it increased in nine prefectures. The population of the Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa, increased by 800,000 to 36.93 million, accounting for approximately 30% of the total population, and highlighting the fact that Tokyo is becoming more concentrated.

According to the United Nations’ estimates, Japan’s population, which had been the 10th highest in the world in the previous survey, had been overtaken by Mexico and dropped to 11th place.

By prefecture, Tokyo had the largest population with 14,064,696, and Hokkaido the eighth largest population with 5,228,885. The top eight prefectures accounted for more than 50% of the national total.

The population density of Hokkaido was the lowest in Japan at 66.7 people/km2, which was approximately 96 times higher than the highest population density of 6410.4 people/km2 in Tokyo.

Looking at the population increase/decrease rate by prefecture, Hokkaido’s population decreased by 2.8%, which was a greater decrease than the 2.3% seen at the time of the previous census. Tokyo had the highest increase rate, with an increase of 4.1% over the previous time.

Looking at the population increase/decrease by municipality, Sapporo was the only city in Hokkaido that ranked among the 20 municipalities nationwide with the largest population growth. The city’s population increased by 22,709 to 1,975,065, accounting for approximately 37.8% of the population of Hokkaido.

On the other hand, municipalities with a large population decline included Hakodate City (decrease of 14,708 people, population of 251,271), Otaru City (decrease of 10,502 people, population of 111,422), Asahikawa City (decrease of 10,092 people, population of 329,513).

Looking at the population increase/decrease rate, Shimukappu Village in Hokkaido (7.9% increase, population of 1,307) was included in the top 20 municipalities with a high growth rate, and Tsukigata Town (19.3% decrease, population of 3,692), Kamisunagawa Town (18.2% decrease, population of 2,847), Yubari City (17% decrease, population of 7,341), and Utashinai City (16.6% decrease, population of 2,989 people) were included in the municipalities with a high decrease rate.

(Excerpt from an article on Monday, June 28, 2021)

日本語原文（The following is the original text written in Japanese.)

道内人口は522万8885人で全国8位　2020年国勢調査速報

　総務省は25日、2020年国勢調査の速報値を発表した。20年10月1日時点で外国人を含む北海道の人口は全国8位の522万8885人で、前回調査より15万2848人、2・8％減少した。全国的に見ると、日本の人口は1億2622万6568人と、15年の前回調査から86万8177人減少。1920年の調査開始以来初の減少に転じた前回に続くマイナスとなったが、外国人の増加などを背景に減少率は0・8％から0・7％に縮小した。

　人口が減少したのは北海道を含めた38道府県で、増加したのは9都府県。東京、埼玉、千葉、神奈川の東京圏は80万人増の3693万人と、人口全体の約3割を占め、東京一極集中が進んでいる実態を浮き彫りにした。

　国連の推計によると、前回調査で世界10位だった日本の人口はメキシコに抜かれ11位に後退した。

　都道府県別の人口では、一番多い東京が1406万4696人、北海道が8位の522万8885人。上位8都道府県で全国の5割超を占めた。

　北海道の人口密度は全国で最も低い1㎢当たり66・7人となり、最も高い東京の6410・4人と約96倍の開きがある。

　都道府県ごとの人口増減率を見ると、北海道は2・8％減と前回調査の2・3％減から減少幅が拡大。東京が前回を上回る4・1％増と増加率が最も高かった。

　市町村別の人口増減を見ると、人口増加数の大きい全国20市町村に、道内から札幌市が唯一ランクイン。2万2709人増加の197万5065人となり、道内人口の約37・8％を占めた。反対に人口減少数の大きい市町村には、函館市（1万4708人減、25万1271人）、小樽市（1万502人減、11万1422人）、旭川市（1万92人減、32万9513人）が名を連ねた。

　人口増減率で見ると、増加率の高い市町村上位20位には道内では7・9％増の占冠村（1307人）が、減少率の高い市町村には月形町（19・3％減、3692人）、上砂川町（18・2％減、2847人）、夕張市（17％減、7341人）、歌志内市（16・6％減、2989人）が入っている。

(2021年6月28日付から抜粋)