We present some statistics for the population of Kobe City, Japan, including some notes on the population of foreigners living in Kobe City.
Population of Kobe City
Recent data indicates Kobe City’s population to be 1,490,276 (as of 2025). By population, Kobe is the seventh largest city in Japan, after Kawasaki, Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka, Yokohama, and Tokyo.
What is the Population of Kobe City by Year?
Here is a breakdown of the Kobe City population by year:
| YEAR | Kobe Population |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,490,276 |
| 2024 | 1,497,147 |
| 2023 | 1,505,471 |
| 2022 | 1,512,751 |
| 2021 | 1,522,860 |
| 2020 | 1,530,890 |
| 2019 | 1,534,971 |
| 2018 | 1,540,590 |
| 2017 | 1,544,283 |
| 2016 | 1,547,798 |
| 2015 | 1,549,086 |
Kobe City Population vs Other Cities in Japan
For a comparison with other cities in Japan:
Kobe City is a in the top 10 cities in Japan, but there are several much bigger cities. For example, the population of the city of Tokyo is 14,192,184 (2024) and Osaka city population is 2,791,907 (2024). Even some relatively smaller cities have larger populations, for example the population of Sapporo is 1,968,265 (2024).
Which Wards in Kobe Have the Highest Population?
Kobe City has nice wards (or “ku”), which are like major neighborhoods in Kobe City. The largest ward in Kobe is Nishi-ku (230,121, 15% of the population) and the smallest ward in Kobe is Nagata-ku (94,633, 6% of the population).
The populations* for each of Kobe’s individual wards are:
— Nishi-ku, Kobe, population is 230,121
— Higashinada-ku, Kobe, population is 210,328
— Tarumi-ku, Kobe, population is 209,893
— Kita-ku, Kobe, population is 206,928
— Suma-ku, Kobe, population is 154,153
— Chuo-ku, Kobe, population is 141,547
— Nada-ku, Kobe, population is 131,939
— Hyogo-ku, Kobe, population is 110,734
— Nagata-ku, Kobe, population is 94,633
* 2025 data
Kobe City’s Population is Shrinking
Kobe’s population is getting smaller every year. And while that is the general pattern of Japan, Kobe may be less popular that some other cities, and may be showing signs of getting smaller at a faster rate than other cities in Japan.
2019 is an interesting year for population in Japan, as it was the last year before Covid. In 2019, Kobe City had 1,534,971 residents. Most cities in Japan saw a reduction in population during Covid, perhaps because foreign populations left Japan. This was true of Kobe as well, in 2021, Kobe’s population had decreased to 1,522,860. That relatively small decrease may have been because Kobe had a smaller foreign population before and after Covid. However, as the Covid phenomenon was over, Kobe never saw a post-Covid increase in population, which was seen in most of the larger cities.
As of 2025, the population of Kobe City has decreased year over year, with no exceptions, for each of the past 10 years. In the period from 2015 to 2025, Kobe City lost an average of 0.4% of it’s population each year, increasing to 0.7% in 2021, with an average loss in populations of 0.5% for the years 2022 – 2025.
Foreigners in Kobe City, Japan
Foreigners in Kobe City make up a relatively small percentage of the population. As of 2025, there were approximately 61,304 foreigners in Kobe (4% of the population). In 2015, the percentage of foreigners living in Kobe City was about 3%; Kobe is slowly increasing it’s foreign population. While the total percentage of foreigners living in Kobe City, Japan is low (3%), that population is increasing at about 8% per year for the period of 2023-2025.
Compared to other cities, Kobe has a moderate percentage of foreigners, and that percentage is growing at a moderate pace. Recent research shows the percentage of foreigners living in Osaka to be 6% (169,392 foreign residents as of 2023, increasing 11% over 2022). Up north in Hokkaido, the percentage of foreigners in Sapporo has only recently increased to over 1% (20,665 foreign residents as of 2025).
Kobe City’s Foreign-Born Population by Country
The primary country of origin for foreigners living in Kobe is China (14,785 in 2025, or 24% of Kobe’s foreign population), followed by Korea (22%) and Vietnam (15%). Like most cities in Japan, the foreign population is almost always from other Asian countries.
The only English-speaking country on top 10 list of foreigners living in Kobe is the United States. As of 2025, there are 1,324 residents from America living in Kobe, City, Japan, 2% of the foreign population, and the 9th largest population for foreigners in Kobe.
See also
— Kobe neighborhoods
— Shopping in Kobe, Japan
— Department stores in Kobe, Japan
— Major train Stations in Kobe, Japan
— Kobe Airport in Kobe, Japan
— Train Lines, Shinkansen and Subway in Kobe, Japan
— Japanese Temples and Shrines to visit in Kobe, Japan
— Popular museums in Kobe, Japan
— Leaning Japanese in Kobe, Japan
— The best Universities and Colleges in Kobe and other cities in Hyogo prefecture
— International Schools in Kobe, Japan
— Co-working spaces in Kobe
— Immigration lawyers in Kobe, Japan
— Tax specialists that speak English in Kobe
More Japanese Population Statistics:
— Population of Osaka, Japan
— Population of Nagoya, Japan
— Population of Sapporo, Japan
— Population of Hakodate, Japan
— Population of Asahikawa, Japan
— Population of Otaru, Japan
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