FUKUSHIMA--The population of Fukushima Prefecture increased over the previous month for the first time since the 2011 nuclear disaster, prefecture authorities said May 24.
FUKUSHIMA--The population of Fukushima Prefecture increased over the previous month for the first time since the 2011 nuclear disaster, prefecture authorities said May 24.
As of May 1, the population had increased by 746 over the previous month.
The prefecture hosts the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, and large numbers of people evacuated after the accident triggered by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
An official said the population increase is a sign that the exodus caused by the accident is coming to an end.
According to the prefectural government’s statistics division, the population of the prefecture as of May 1 was 1,950,341, a drop of about 18,000 from the previous year and of about 74,000 from the pre-quake figure in March 2011.
Until 2011, population figures as of May 1 had shown an increase every year over the previous month as people moved into the prefecture because of new employment or job transfers.
After the nuclear crisis began, however, figures showed that trend had reversed, with more people moving out than in.
Officials said the number of people moving into the prefecture in April surpassed those who moved out by 1,536 because of new employment and job transfers occurring at the start of the new fiscal year.
The prefecture saw a drop of 8,803 as of May 1, 2011, over the previous month, while the population plunged by 1,568 as of May 1, 2012.