TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Tokyo continued to be a magnet for people in 2024, with a net influx of around 80,000 nearing the pre-pandemic 2019 level and highlighting the longstanding population concentration in the capital, government data showed Friday.

People moving into Tokyo outnumbered those leaving by 79,285 in 2024, up 11,000 from a year before. The net population influx was 82,982 in 2019, but the move slowed down in 2020 and 2021 amid the spread of teleworking and infection control measures.

"More young people are (now) moving to Tokyo for work and studies," the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said as it announced its latest migration statistics.

While 40 among 47 prefectures in Japan had more people moving out than moving in, Tokyo saw 461,454 people moving in, up 7,321 from a year earlier, and 382,169 people leaving, down 3,679.

The net influx into the broader metropolitan area covering Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures stood at 135,843.

The Osaka area, which covers the prefectures of Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Nara, saw more people moving in than those leaving for the first time since comparable data became available in 2014.

The ministry also began releasing figures on the migration of Japanese nationals and foreigners, with 735,883 people moving into the country and 371,615 people moving out.

The central government has been encouraging people to move outside Tokyo as part of its regional revitalization policy, but progress in curbing overconcentration in the capital has been slow.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who considers regional revitalization a key priority, aims to draw up in the summer a basic plan on steps to be taken in the next 10 years.