Japan’s Agricultural Workforce Drops Below 1 Million

Society Economy## Ongoing Decline

A 2026 survey conducted by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries found that the number of core agricultural workers (those engaged in self-employed farming as their main profession) decreased year on year by around 50,000 or 4.8%, for a total of 986,600. As the farming population ages, the decline shows no sign of slowing down. Since 2010, when there were 2.05 million, the number of core agricultural workers has more than halved.

The average age of agricultural workers is 67.7. People 70 or over account for 56.5% of the agricultural workforce, while those in their thirties make up just 3.8% and those under 30 a mere 1.2%.

The total number of agricultural operations, including individually operated farms and corporate farms, decreased year on year by 4.4%, to 799,700. Individually operated farms decreased by 4.6% to 759,000, while corporate farms increased by 1.2% to 40,700.

The number of executives and staff for corporate agricultural operations increased year on year by 2,600, or 2.6%, to 100,900.

The average area of farmland utilized per agricultural operation was 3.8 hectares, for an increase of 5.6% over the previous year. (The average in Hokkaidō rose by 2.7% to 34.6 hectares, while in the rest of Japan it increased by 3.8% to 2.7 hectares.)

Agricultural operations cultivating rice for sale totaled 499,500, a decrease of 38,800 or 7.2% compared to the previous year.

Among agricultural operations selling rice, 58.7% cultivated it on less than one hectare of land, while 18.6% used 1–2 hectares, 12.8% 2–5 hectares, 5.1% 5–10 hectares, and 4.8% 10 hectares or more.

Data Sources

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)