The Impact of Labor Migration on the Japanese Economy in 2018-2022

Japan has been facing the phenomenon of what is commonly referred to as an "aging society" for several decades. As a demographic problem, it has a negative impact on the country's economy. The government's policy to solve the demographic problem affects various fields of social life, including labor migration. This research paper investigates the impact of labor migration on the economy of Japan. This type of migration flows has a positive impact on the labor market by alleviating labor shortages, so the analysis of the impact of labor migration on the Japanese economy is mainly along the vector of assessing the impact of labor migration on the Japanese labor market. In the first chapter, the theories of labor migration are presented. Their applicability to Japan was assessed. Chapter two examines the evolution of Japan's migration policy from 1947-2024. The third chapter provides a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the impact of labor migration on the Japanese economy, in particular on labor market indicators. The author derived a hypothesis about the positive impact of labor migration on the Japanese economy, which was confirmed by means of correlation analysis of the impact of net migration on the following economic indicators of the country: unemployment rate, consumption, real GDP. The mitigating positive effect of labor migration on the deficit of low-skilled vacancies, which are unattractive for the native young population of Japan, was also qualitatively proved. KEYWORDS: Japan, aging population, migration policy, demography, labor migration, economics, migration theories