Table 16: Changes in the estimated number of overstayers by major nationality (place of origin) (People)

Date Nationality (Place of Origin)	May 1 1991	May 1 1992	May 1 1993	May 1 1994	May 1 1995	May1 1996	January 1 1997	January 1 1998	January 1 1999	January 1 2000	January 1 2001	January 1 2002	January 1 2003	January 1 2004	January 1 2005	January 1 2006	January 1 2007	January 1 2008	January 1 2009	January 1 2010	January 1 2011	January 1 2012
Total	159,828	278,892	298,646	293,800	286,704	284,500	282,986	276,810	271,048	251,697	232,121	224,067	220,552	219,418	207,299	193,745	170,839	149,785	113,072	91,778	78,488	67,065
R.O. Korea	25,848	35,687	39,455	43,369	47,544	51,580	52,387	52,123	62,577	60,693	56,023	55,164	49,874	46,425	43,151	40,203	36,321	31,758	24,198	21,660	19,271	16,927
China	17,535	25,737	33,312	39,738	39,511	39,140	38,296	37,590	34,800	32,896	30,975	27,582	29,676	33,522	32,683	31,074	27,698	25,057	18,385	12,933	10,337	7,807
Philippines	27,228	31,974	35,392	37,544	39,763	41,997	42,547	42,608	40,420	36,379	31,666	29,649	30,100	31,428	30,619	30,777	28,491	24,741	17,287	12,842	9,329	6,908
China(Taiwan)	5,241	6,729	7,457	7,871	7,974	8,502	9,409	9,430	9,437	9,243	8,849	8,990	9,126	7,611	6,760	6,696	6,347	6,031	4,950	4,889	4,774	4,571
Thailand	19,093	44,354	55,383	49,992	44,794	41,280	39,513	37,046	30,065	23,503	19,500	16,925	15,693	14,334	12,787	10,352	8,460	7,314	6,023	4,836	4,264	3,714
Malaysia	14,413	38,529	30,840	20,313	14,511	11,525	10,390	10,141	9,989	9,701	9,651	10,097	9,442	8,476	7,431	6,822	6,397	4,804	2,986	2,661	2,442	2,237
Singapore	1,435	1,712	1,914	2,342	2,600	2,850	2,946	3,027	3,084	3,178	3,302	3,494	3,556	3,216	3,075	3,587	2,241	2,207	2,128	2,107	1,789	1,586
Peru	487	2,783	9,038	12,918	15,301	13,836	12,942	11,606	10,320	9,158	8,502	7,744	7,322	7,230	6,624	5,997	5,283	4,481	3,396	2,402	1,794	1,377
Brazil	944	2,703	2,210	2,603	3,104	3,763	5,026	4,334	3,288	3,266	3,578	3,697	3,865	4,728	4,905	2,762	2,286	2,297	1,939	1,645	1,536	1,290
Sri Lanka	2,281	3,217	3,763	3,395	2,980	2,783	2,751	3,071	3,734	3,907	3,489	3,730	3,909	4,242	4,209	4,590	4,042	3,615	2,796	1,952	1,498	1,256
Others	45,323	85,467	79,882	73,715	68,622	67,244	66,779	65,834	63,334	59,773	56,586	56,995	57,989	58,206	55,055	50,885	43,273	37,480	28,984	23,851	21,454	19,392

$ ^{*} $ “China” does not include Taiwan, Hong Kong or others.

Looking at changes after May 1, 1993, when the highest number of overstayers was recorded, the country (place of origin) of the largest number of overstayers as of May 1, 1993 was Thailand, followed by R.O. Korea, the Philippines, China, and Malaysia. In the ranking as of January 1, 2012, R.O. Korea was top followed by China, the Philippines, China (Taiwan), and Thailand.

The changes in the number of overstayers by nationality (place of origin) were as follows. Although new entries have increased drastically since visa-exemption measures have been implemented for those who intend to engage in activities that can be performed under the status of residence of “Temporary Visitor”, the number of overstayers from R.O. Korea has been consistently decreasing since January 1, 1999. The number of those from Thailand has steadily decreased since May 1, 1993.

The number of those from Malaysia and Peru has also seen a decrease due to a measure to promote the acquisition of visas, which was taken on June 1, 1993 and on July 15, 1995 respectively. The number of those from China continued to decrease from 1994 until 2002. Then, it started to increase in 2003 and further increased in 2004, but it has also shown a decreasing trend since 2005. The number of overstayers from the Philippines has been decreasing since 1998, but fluctuated between increasing and decreasing from 2003 to 2006, decreasing after 2007.

## 2 The Number of Overstayers by Status of Residence

Statistics for the estimated number of overstayers by status of residence immediately before their status of residence had expired showed the following: the largest number of overstayers had the status of residence of “Temporary Visitor” (46,845) accounting for 69.9% of the total. This was followed by “Spouse or Child of Japanese National” (5,060 accounting for 7.5%), “College Student” (3,187 accounting for 4.8%), “Entertainer” (2,956 accounting for 4.4%) and “Long-Term Resident” (2,627 accounting for 3.9%). Compared with the same period of the previous year, the number of those who were granted the “Temporary Visitor” status decreased by 7,375 (13.6%), the “Spouse or Child of Japanese National” status decreased by 783 (13.4%), the “College Student” status decreased by 1,135.