About 5,728,000 foreigners entered Japan in 2003, while 13,297,000 Japanese traveled outside the country, according to a preliminary report released Thursday by the Justice Ministry Immigration Bureau.

The latest figure of foreigners entering Japan is the second-highest, following the 5,771,975 recorded in 2002, the report says.

The figure for outbound Japanese was down 19.5 percent from the previous year.

The report attributes the decline to an increase in terrorist attacks worldwide and the SARS epidemic.

The record high figure for outbound Japanese was the 17,818,590 recorded in 2000, it says.