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.

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.

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.

Japan data available from WorldPop here.

As of 2020, about ** percent of the population in Japan was concentrated in the Greater Tokyo Area. The ***** metropolitan areas Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, accounted for around ** percent of the Japanese population.

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.

This bar chart displays population (people) by continent using the aggregation sum in Japan. The data is about countries per year.

Japan is one of the highly urbanized and severely aging society. In an aging society, chronic disease and disability are prevalent, and the population is sensitive to environmental issues and climate change. To detect the impacts of population changes, formulate the population and public health policies, and assist environmental applications, the high-resolution and accurate gridded population dataset is strongly desired. To provide basic data for these studies, we create an open access annual dataset containing the total, male, and female population counts in each grid at a 500-m resolution from 2001 to 2020. The yearly population dataset is based on the 4th-level mesh data from the Statistics Bureau of Japan to make it easy to use. The dataset is provided here alongside the descriptions of the data and methods used in the fitting, cross-validation, and prediction processes.

The total population data are stored in 20 attributes, named the “X0000” style. The “0000” of “X0000” represents the four-digit year. For example, the attribute “X2001” reports the total 2001 population in the mesh. The dataset also preserves the direct output from the random forest and the logarithms of the total population. The attributes of the logarithms of the total population in each year are named in “X0000_log” style. The “0000” of “X0000_log” also stands for the four-digit year. The attributes of the female population, the logarithm of the female population, the male population, and the logarithm of the male population are written as “X0000_fema”, “X0000_fe_l”, “X0000_male”, and “X0000_ma_l”, respectively.

The accuracy of the models constructed to predict the total, male, and female populations are 92.09%, 91.92%, and 92.16%, respectively.

Constrained estimates, total number of people per grid-cell. The dataset is available to download in Geotiff format at a resolution of 3 arc (approximately 100m at the equator). The projection is Geographic Coordinate System, WGS84. The units are number of people per pixel. The mapping approach is Random Forest-based dasymetric redistribution.

More information can be found in the Release Statement

The difference between constrained and unconstrained is explained on this page: https://www.worldpop.org/methods/top_down_constrained_vs_unconstrained

Japan JP: Population: as % of Total: Male: Aged 0-14 data was reported at 13.548 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 13.597 % for 2016. Japan JP: Population: as % of Total: Male: Aged 0-14 data is updated yearly, averaging 20.224 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 31.420 % in 1960 and a record low of 13.548 % in 2017. Japan JP: Population: as % of Total: Male: Aged 0-14 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. Male population between the ages 0 to 14 as a percentage of the total male population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; Weighted average;

The world's most accurate population datasets. Seven maps/datasets for the distribution of various populations in Japan: (1) Overall population density (2) Women (3) Men (4) Children (ages 0-5) (5) Youth (ages 15-24) (6) Elderly (ages 60+) (7) Women of reproductive age (ages 15-49).

This bar chart displays population (people) by country full name using the aggregation sum in Japan. The data is about countries per year.

Adults with 100 thousand to *********** U.S. dollars in wealth made up around ** percent of the Japanese population in 2020, while the second largest share of people were worth between 10,000 and 100,000 dollars. Together, these groups accounted for approximately ** percent of the population.

Wealth versus income

Wealth, as opposed to income, measures the ownership of assets in a society. Together with GDP, GDP per capita, and household disposable income, it helps to understand the economic well-being of households. Furthermore, the distribution of wealth gives an indication about the degree of equality in a society. Illustrated by its wealth distribution, Japan can be considered relatively equal compared to other countries.

Egalitarian corporate culture

In recent years, wealth inequality has become the subject of increasing focus among policymakers, academics and the general public. While several factors have contributed to the high equality in the country, it is safe to say that the egalitarian ethic in Japanese corporate culture is one of these reasons. This is reflected, for example, in the income structure; Japanese CEOs earn remarkably less than their counterparts in the United Kingdom or the United States. In a ranking of the average income of business leaders worldwide by country, Japan did not even make it into the list of the top ten countries.

Japan JP: Population: Male: Ages 20-24: % of Male Population data was reported at 4.999 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 5.006 % for 2016. Japan JP: Population: Male: Ages 20-24: % of Male Population data is updated yearly, averaging 7.224 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 10.659 % in 1969 and a record low of 4.999 % in 2017. Japan JP: Population: Male: Ages 20-24: % of Male Population 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. Male population between the ages 20 to 24 as a percentage of the total male population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; ;

Japan JP: Population: Growth data was reported at -0.164 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of -0.115 % for 2016. Japan JP: Population: Growth data is updated yearly, averaging 0.396 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.606 % in 1961 and a record low of -0.185 % in 2011. Japan JP: Population: Growth 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. Annual population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage . Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.; ; Derived from total population. Population source: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision, (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

In 2023, the total population in Japan slightly decreased to just below *** million people compared to the previous year, with the female population reaching around **** million, as compared to **** million men. The oldest population in the world  Japanese society is facing severe demographic problems such as decreasing birthrates, remaining under *** million births annually recently, and a thereby aging population. The country’s average age lies at around ** years, making its population the oldest in the world. Elderly people aged 65 years and older accounted for about ** percent of the population in 2023. According to a forecast, this age group would make up approximately ** percent of the Japanese population by 2070. Challenges with the demographic shift The rapid aging of the society poses significant economic and sociopolitical challenges to the country, as the workforce will continue to shrink while increasingly more elderly will receive long-term support. Currently, close to ***** million Japanese require long-term care, leading to national benefit expenses of over ** trillion yen annually, including in-home and community-based services.

DATASET: Alpha version 2000 and 2010 estimates of numbers of people per grid square, with national totals adjusted to match UN population division estimates (http://esa.un.org/wpp/) and MODIS-derived urban extent change built in. REGION: Asia 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 on the website and in: Gaughan AE, Stevens FR, Linard C, Jia P and Tatem AJ, 2013, High resolution population distribution maps for Southeast Asia in 2010 and 2015, PLoS ONE, 8(2): e55882 FORMAT: Geotiff (zipped using 7-zip (open access tool): www.7-zip.org) FILENAMES: Example - VNM00urbchg.tif = Vietnam (VNM) population count map for 2000 (00) adjusted to match UN national estimates and incorporating urban extent and urban population estimates for 2000. DATE OF PRODUCTION: July 2013 Dataset construction details and input data are provided here: www.asiapop.org and here: http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0055882

Toda City(Toda Shi)'s Percentage distribution of total population (15-64) is 68.35% which is the 18th highest in Japan (by City). It also ranks 2nd in Saitama Prefecture. Transition Graphs and Comparison chart between Toda City and Yaizu City(Shizuoka) and Osaka mino City(Osaka)(Closest City in Population) are available. Various data can be downloaded and output in csv format for use in EXCEL free of charge.

This bar chart displays population (people) by demonym using the aggregation sum in Japan. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

Munakata City(Munakata Shi)'s Percentage distribution of total population (15-64) is 56.29% which is the 604th highest in Japan (by City). It also ranks 17th in Fukuoka Prefecture. Transition Graphs and Comparison chart between Munakata City and Kanuma City(Tochigi) and Chitose City(Hokkai do)(Closest City in Population) are available. Various data can be downloaded and output in csv format for use in EXCEL free of charge.

's Percentage distribution of total population (0-14) is 16.9% which is the 1st highest in Japan (by Prefecture). Transition Graphs and Comparison chart between Okinawa and Kagoshima(Kagoshima) and Shiga(Shiga)(Closest Prefecture in Population) are available. Various data can be downloaded and output in csv format for use in EXCEL free of charge.