Tokyo counted 13.01 million residents as of April 1, up 0.5 percent from the same month a year earlier, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Wednesday.
The growth contrasts with the overall demographic trend in Japan, where people have long life spans and stubbornly low birth rates. The result is a shrinking population and tax base that threaten to undermine the world's second-biggest economy.
Japan's total population peaked at 127.84 million in 2004, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
Meanwhile, Tokyo is thriving, adding 1 million people over the last decade. A recent boom in condominium construction and an expanding foreign community contributed to the population growth, particularly in central Tokyo, said Yuko Sakurai, a spokeswoman for the Tokyo government's statistics division.
The number of foreigners living in Tokyo is up 46 percent since 2000 and stood at 418,116 as of Jan. 1, according to a separate Tokyo government population report.
The search for better jobs is also drawing people to Tokyo.
Though recovering, Japan's labor market remains weak. The country's unemployment rate hit a record high of 5.6 percent in July last year as the global downturn forced companies to cut costs. Workers outside Japan's urban hubs have been particularly hard hit.
