Japan · prefecture
Wakayama population 2026
和歌山県
Wakayama has 880,000 people on the latest official figure, for 1 October 2024 (published to the nearest thousand), 12,000 fewer than a year earlier (−1.34%). It is 40th of Japan’s 47 prefectures by population, home to 0.7% of Japan’s people.
If last year’s change continues: about 859 thousand by 1 July 2026. That is our arithmetic, not an official figure.
Wakayama in numbers
- Population
- 880 thousand 1 October 2024
- Change in a year
- −1.34% −12,000 people
- Share of Japan
- 0.7% 40th of 47 prefectures
- Population density
- 186per km² 4,726 km²
That is about as many people as Reunion (886 thousand).
Population of Wakayama by year
› Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 914,000 |
| 2022 | 903,000 |
| 2023 | 892,000 |
| 2024 | 880,000 |
| Year | Population | Change | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 880,000 | −12,000 | −1.35% |
| 2023 | 892,000 | −11,000 | −1.22% |
| 2022 | 903,000 | −11,000 | −1.20% |
| 2021 | 914,000 | – | – |
Wakayama among Japan’s prefectures
Full ranking →| # | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tokyo | 14,178,000 | +0.65% | 11.5% | 6,462 |
| 2 | Kanagawa | 9,225,000 | −0.04% | 7.5% | 3,818 |
| 3 | Osaka | 8,757,000 | −0.07% | 7.1% | 4,596 |
| 4 | Aichi | 7,460,000 | −0.23% | 6.0% | 1,442 |
| 5 | Saitama | 7,332,000 | +0.01% | 5.9% | 1,931 |
| 6 | Chiba | 6,251,000 | −0.10% | 5.0% | 1,212 |
| 7 | Hyogo | 5,337,000 | −0.61% | 4.3% | 635 |
| 8 | Fukuoka | 5,092,000 | −0.22% | 4.1% | 1,024 |
| 9 | Hokkaido | 5,043,000 | −0.96% | 4.1% | 60 |
| 10 | Shizuoka | 3,527,000 | −0.79% | 2.8% | 453 |
| 11 | Ibaraki | 2,806,000 | −0.67% | 2.3% | 460 |
| 12 | Hiroshima | 2,714,000 | −0.88% | 2.2% | 320 |
| 13 | Kyoto | 2,520,000 | −0.59% | 2.0% | 546 |
| 14 | Miyagi | 2,248,000 | −0.71% | 1.8% | 309 |
| 15 | Niigata | 2,099,000 | −1.27% | 1.7% | 167 |
| 16 | Nagano | 1,987,000 | −0.85% | 1.6% | 146 |
| 17 | Gifu | 1,916,000 | −0.78% | 1.5% | 180 |
| 18 | Gunma | 1,890,000 | −0.63% | 1.5% | 297 |
| 19 | Tochigi | 1,885,000 | −0.63% | 1.5% | 294 |
| 20 | Okayama | 1,831,000 | −0.87% | 1.5% | 257 |
| 21 | Fukushima | 1,743,000 | −1.36% | 1.4% | 126 |
| 22 | Mie | 1,711,000 | −0.93% | 1.4% | 296 |
| 23 | Kumamoto | 1,697,000 | −0.70% | 1.4% | 229 |
| 24 | Kagoshima | 1,532,000 | −1.10% | 1.2% | 168 |
| 25 | Okinawa | 1,466,000 | −0.14% | 1.2% | 643 |
| 26 | Shiga | 1,402,000 | −0.35% | 1.1% | 349 |
| 27 | Nara | 1,285,000 | −0.85% | 1.0% | 348 |
| 28 | Yamaguchi | 1,281,000 | −1.31% | 1.0% | 210 |
| 29 | Ehime | 1,276,000 | −1.16% | 1.0% | 225 |
| 30 | Nagasaki | 1,252,000 | −1.18% | 1.0% | 305 |
| 31 | Aomori | 1,165,000 | −1.60% | 0.9% | 121 |
| 32 | Iwate | 1,145,000 | −1.55% | 0.9% | 75 |
| 33 | Ishikawa | 1,098,000 | −0.99% | 0.9% | 262 |
| 34 | Oita | 1,085,000 | −1.00% | 0.9% | 171 |
| 35 | Miyazaki | 1,033,000 | −0.86% | 0.8% | 134 |
| 36 | Yamagata | 1,011,000 | −1.46% | 0.8% | 108 |
| 37 | Toyama | 997,000 | −0.99% | 0.8% | 235 |
| 38 | Kagawa | 917,000 | −0.97% | 0.7% | 493 |
| 39 | Akita | 897,000 | −1.86% | 0.7% | 77 |
| 40 | Wakayama | 880,000 | −1.34% | 0.7% | 186 |
| 41 | Yamanashi | 791,000 | −0.63% | 0.6% | 177 |
| 42 | Saga | 788,000 | −0.88% | 0.6% | 323 |
| 43 | Fukui | 739,000 | −0.67% | 0.6% | 176 |
| 44 | Tokushima | 685,000 | −1.44% | 0.6% | 165 |
| 45 | Kochi | 656,000 | −1.50% | 0.5% | 92 |
| 46 | Shimane | 642,000 | −1.23% | 0.5% | 96 |
| 47 | Tottori | 531,000 | −1.12% | 0.4% | 151 |
Largest cities in Wakayama
City proper, not the wider metro area; latest figure in GeoNames (CC BY 4.0), so years differ.
- Wakayama356,729
- Tanabe70,972
- Hashimoto61,063
- Kinokawa60,592
- Iwade53,967
- Kainan48,369
Questions
What is the population of Wakayama in 2026?
Is Wakayama’s population growing or shrinking?
How does Wakayama rank in Japan?
What is the population density of Wakayama?
What is the largest city in Wakayama?
Source and method
Statistics Bureau of Japan, Population Estimates. Reuse with credit under the e-Gov terms. Total area, Wikidata. Prefecture estimates are published in thousands each spring; results of the 2025 census will supersede them. Ranks, shares and changes are our arithmetic on the published figures. National figures can differ from the UN’s projection for Japan, which uses a different method. The 2026 figure above carries last year’s change forward; it does not come from the source.
Cite this page: Wakayama population, Statistics Bureau of Japan, 1 October 2024. GlobeMetrics, https://globemetrics.org/world-population/japan/wakayama/
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