In 2023, around **** percent of the total population in Japan was aged 65 years and older. Due to a low birth rate and high longevity, people aged 65 years and over were estimated to make up approximately **** percent of the population in Japan by 2070. The share of children below 15 years old was expected to decrease to around *** percent by that year.

The total population in Japan was estimated at 123.6 million people in 2024, according to the latest census figures and projections from Trading Economics. This dataset provides - Japan Population - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Key information about Japan population

• The Japan population reached 123.7 million people in Dec 2024, compared with the previously reported figure of 124.3 million people in Dec 2023
• The data reached an all-time high of 128.1 million people in Dec 2010 and a record low of 43.4 million people in Dec 1899

• In the latest reports, Japan Unemployment Rate increased to 2.5 % in Oct 2024
• Monthly earnings of the Japan population was 1,957.4 USD in Oct 2024
• Japan Labour Force Participation Rate remained the same rate at 63.5 % in Oct 2024

Historical chart and dataset showing total population for Japan by year from 1950 to 2025.

Population density per pixel at 100 metre resolution. WorldPop provides estimates of numbers of people residing in each 100x100m grid cell for every low and middle income country. Through ingegrating cencus, survey, satellite and GIS datasets in a flexible machine-learning framework, high resolution maps of population counts and densities for 2000-2020 are produced, along with accompanying metadata. DATASET: Alpha version 2010 and 2015 estimates of numbers of people per grid square, with national totals adjusted to match UN population division estimates (http://esa.un.org/wpp/) and remaining unadjusted. REGION: Africa SPATIAL RESOLUTION: 0.000833333 decimal degrees (approx 100m at the equator) PROJECTION: Geographic, WGS84 UNITS: Estimated persons per grid square MAPPING APPROACH: Land cover based, as described in: Linard, C., Gilbert, M., Snow, R.W., Noor, A.M. and Tatem, A.J., 2012, Population distribution, settlement patterns and accessibility across Africa in 2010, PLoS ONE, 7(2): e31743. FORMAT: Geotiff (zipped using 7-zip (open access tool): www.7-zip.org) FILENAMES: Example - AGO10adjv4.tif = Angola (AGO) population count map for 2010 (10) adjusted to match UN national estimates (adj), version 4 (v4). Population maps are updated to new versions when improved census or other input data become available.

Approximately 36.5 million people in Japan were estimated to be within the age group 65 and over in 2024. This number was projected to increase until 2040 and then decline to about 20.1 million by 2120.

Historical chart and dataset showing Japan population growth rate by year from 1961 to 2023.

Graph and download economic data for Population, Total for Japan (POPTOTJPA647NWDB) from 1960 to 2024 about Japan and population.

The statistic shows the total population in Japan from 2020 to 2024, with projections up until 2030. In 2024, the total population of Japan amounted to around 123.89 million inhabitants. See the figures for the population of South Korea for comparison. Total population in Japan From steadily low fertility rates to a growing elderly population, it is no secret that Japan’s population is shrinking. Population growth rates jump around a little, but are currently following a declining trend. The post-war baby boom generation is now in the 65-and-over age group, and the percentage of the population in that category is expected to keep growing, as is indicated by a high median age and high life expectancy. Japan already has the highest percentage of its population over 65 in the world, and the aging population puts some pressure on the Japanese government to provide welfare services for more people as rising numbers leave the workforce. However, the amount of jobs opened up for the younger generations by the older generations leaving the workforce means that unemployment is kept to a minimum. Despite a jump in unemployment after the global recession hit in 2008, rates were almost back to pre-recession rates by 2013. Another factor affecting Japan is the number of emigrants to other countries. The United States absorbs a number of emigrants worldwide, so despite a stagnating birth rate, the U.S. has seen a steady rise in population.

In 1800, the population of Japan was just over 30 million, a figure which would grow by just two million in the first half of the 19th century. However, with the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate and the restoration of the emperor in the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan would begin transforming from an isolated feudal island, to a modernized empire built on Western models. The Meiji period would see a rapid rise in the population of Japan, as industrialization and advancements in healthcare lead to a significant reduction in child mortality rates, while the creation overseas colonies would lead to a strong economic boom. However, this growth would slow beginning in 1937, as Japan entered a prolonged war with the Republic of China, which later grew into a major theater of the Second World War. The war was eventually brought to Japan's home front, with the escalation of Allied air raids on Japanese urban centers from 1944 onwards (Tokyo was the most-bombed city of the Second World War). By the war's end in 1945 and the subsequent occupation of the island by the Allied military, Japan had suffered over two and a half million military fatalities, and over one million civilian deaths.

The population figures of Japan were quick to recover, as the post-war “economic miracle” would see an unprecedented expansion of the Japanese economy, and would lead to the country becoming one of the first fully industrialized nations in East Asia. As living standards rose, the population of Japan would increase from 77 million in 1945, to over 127 million by the end of the century. However, growth would begin to slow in the late 1980s, as birth rates and migration rates fell, and Japan eventually grew to have one of the oldest populations in the world. The population would peak in 2008 at just over 128 million, but has consistently fallen each year since then, as the fertility rate of the country remains below replacement level (despite government initiatives to counter this) and the country's immigrant population remains relatively stable. The population of Japan is expected to continue its decline in the coming years, and in 2020, it is estimated that approximately 126 million people inhabit the island country.

Graph and download economic data for Population Growth for Japan (SPPOPGROWJPN) from 1961 to 2024 about Japan, population, and rate.

Graph and download economic data for Infra-Annual Labor Statistics: Working-Age Population Total: From 25 to 54 Years for Japan (LFWA25TTJPQ647S) from Q1 1970 to Q1 2025 about 25 to 54 years, working-age, Japan, and population.

Japan JP: Population: as % of Total: Female: Aged 15-64 data was reported at 57.810 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 58.249 % for 2016. Japan JP: Population: as % of Total: Female: Aged 15-64 data is updated yearly, averaging 67.272 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 69.262 % in 1969 and a record low of 57.810 % in 2017. Japan JP: Population: as % of Total: Female: Aged 15-64 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Female population between the ages 15 to 64 as a percentage of the total female population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; Weighted average; Relevance to gender indicator: Knowing how many girls, adolescents and women there are in a population helps a country in determining its provision of services.

Population, female (% of total population) in Japan was reported at 51.19 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Japan - Population, female (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Over the last decade, Japan’s population has aged more and more, to the point where more than a quarter of Japanese were 65 years and older in 2022. Population growth has stopped and even reversed, since it’s been in the red for several years now.

It’s getting old

With almost 30 percent of its population being elderly inhabitants, Japan is considered the “oldest” country in the world today. Japan boasts a high life expectancy, in fact, the Japanese tend to live longer than the average human worldwide. The increase of the aging population is accompanied by a decrease of the total population caused by a sinking birth rate. Japan’s fertility rate has been below the replacement rate for many decades now, mostly due to economic uncertainty and thus a decreasing number of marriages.

Are the Japanese invincible?

There is no real mystery surrounding the ripe old age of so many Japanese. Their high average age is very likely due to high healthcare standards, nutrition, and an overall high standard of living – all of which could be adopted by other industrial nations as well. But with high age comes less capacity, and Japan’s future enemy might not be an early death, but rather a struggling social network.

Japan: Demographic pressures, 0 (low) - 10 (high): The latest value from 2024 is 5.6 index points, a decline from 5.9 index points in 2023. In comparison, the world average is 5.80 index points, based on data from 176 countries. Historically, the average for Japan from 2007 to 2024 is 5.21 index points. The minimum value, 3.6 index points, was reached in 2011 while the maximum of 8.3 index points was recorded in 2012.

As of 2024, the total population in Japan was estimated to be approximately ********************. The projection for 2100 indicated an almost ** percent decrease in population to around **** million people.

Graph and download economic data for Population ages 65 and above for Japan (SPPOP65UPTOZSJPN) from 1960 to 2024 about 65-years +, Japan, and population.

Japan Population Census: Shi Population data was reported at 116,137,232.000 Person in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 116,156,631.000 Person for 2010. Japan Population Census: Shi Population data is updated yearly, averaging 71,392,409.000 Person from Dec 1920 (Median) to 2015, with 20 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 116,156,631.000 Person in 2010 and a record low of 10,096,758.000 Person in 1920. Japan Population Census: Shi Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Statistical Bureau. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.G002: Population: Annual. In general, 'Shi' is defined as the municipality which satisfy the following conditions1. 50,000 or more inhabitants2. 60 percent or more of the houses located in the main built-up areas3. 60 percent or more of the population (including their dependants) engaged in manufacturing, trade or other urban type of business

PERIOD: 1920-1939. NOTE: (As of October 1st but as of September 1st in 1923)The population estimates were obtained as follows: (1) For 1921 to 1923, the population estimate is the sum of county- and city-level population estimates obtained by multiplying the de facto population in the Population Census conducted on October 1, 1920, with the average annual population growth rate by gender from 1908 to 1918. (2) For 1924, the difference between the population of Japan overall calculated using the population growth rate by sex in each city and summing up the results and the population overall calculated using the population growth rate by sex for Japan overall was proportionally subtracted from the population of each prefecture; moreover, the population decrease due to the Great Kanto Earthquake on September 1, 1923 was also taken into account. (3) For Taisho 1926 to 1929, the de facto population in the 1920 and 1925 Population Censuses is used to obtain the annual average geometric growth rate of Japan's population overall, which is then used to estimate the population. (4) For 1931 to 1934, the same procedure is employed using the de facto population in the 1920 and 1930 Population Censuses. (5) From 1926 onward, the population estimates are obtained by adding the increase in the difference between births and deaths up to each estimation year in the 1935 Population Census using the results of the Vital Statistics survey. SOURCE: [Survey by the Statistics Bureau, Imperial Cabinet].