The estimated number of foreigners arriving in Japan in February was 99.4 percent lower compared with the same month in the pre-pandemic year of 2019 at 16,700 people, government data showed Wednesday.

Compared with a year earlier when Tokyo and some prefectures were under a COVID-19 state of emergency, the figure was up 127.1 percent.

In February, the largest number of arrivals came from Vietnam at 2,600 people, followed by China at 2,400, India at 1,700 and the Philippines at 1,000, according to the data released by the Japan National Tourism Organization.

The government's border controls limited the number of new entrants at 3,500 a day since November until the cap was raised to 5,000 on March 1 and to 7,000 on March 14 to allow in more business travelers, technical trainees and international students.

The number of Japanese nationals going overseas in February rose 89.1 percent from a year before to 46,900 but was still 96.9 percent lower compared with February 2019, according to the data.