Japan received an estimated 2,600 foreign travelers in June, posting a year-on-year plunge of 99.9 percent for the third consecutive month amid the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Wednesday.

The total number of foreign visitors fell 76.3 percent to about 3.95 million in the first half of 2020 from a year earlier, with inbound visitors totaling 1,700 in May, marking the lowest figure since 1964 when the government began compiling such statistics, according to the Japan Tourism Agency.

Numbers have fallen below 3,000 since April, which saw a total of 2,917 travelers entering the country. The previous low for monthly foreign visitors prior to April was 17,543 recorded in February 1964.

The figure fell in June for the ninth consecutive month since October, when there was a significant drop in visitors from South Korea.

Bilateral ties between Tokyo and Seoul soured over the issue of wartime labor during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945.

The number of foreign visitors reached a record high of 31.88 million in 2019. The government had been aiming to attract 40 million tourists from overseas this year, but has seen record falls in numbers.

The number of visitors from China fell to around 300 in June from 880,651 a year earlier. Those from South Korea, the United States and Vietnam dropped to about 100, while there were just a few dozen visitors from other countries, according to the data.

There were fewer than 10 people each from Hong Kong, Singapore, Mexico, Italy and Russia who visited Japan.

The number of Japanese nationals departing from the country in June fell 99.3 percent to about 10,700 from 1.52 million a year earlier, but increased from 5,539 the previous month.

The figures come as Japan currently has an entry ban in place for 129 countries and regions to curb the spread of the virus, with foreign travelers who have been to any of the areas within 14 days of their arrival being turned away.

But the government has already started discussions with Vietnam, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand on easing travel restrictions, and said last Friday it is looking to hold discussions with countries seeing declining infections and with high demand for business trips.