Support in Japan for accepting more foreign workers has fallen below 60%, while more than one-third of people oppose the idea, a public opinion poll has revealed.

In the survey, conducted in May, 58.2% of respondents said they “support” or “somewhat support” expanding the number of foreign workers accepted. Meanwhile, 33.2% said they “oppose” or “somewhat oppose” the plan.

Compared with the previous survey in May last year, support dropped 4.1 percentage points, slipping below 60%, while opposition rose 2.7 points.