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 123.9 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.

The total population in Japan was estimated at 123.8 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.

Collective data of Japan's birth-related statistics from 1899 to 2022. Some data are missing between the years 1944 and 1946 due to records lost during World War II.

For use case and analysis reference, please take a look at this notebook Japan Birth Demographics Analysis

Feature Descriptions

• year: The year.
• birth_total: The total number of births.
• birth_male: The total number of male births.
• birth_female: The total number of female births.
• birth_rate: The birth rate. Equation is birth_total / population_total * 1,000
• birth_gender_ratio: The birth gender ratio. Equation is birth_male / birth_female * 1,000
• total_fertility_rate: The average number of children that are born to a woman over her lifetime.
• population_total: The total population.
• population_male: The total male population.
• population_female: The total female population.
• infant_death_total: The total infant deaths.
• infant_death_male: The total male infant deaths.
• infant_death_female: The total female infant deaths.
• infant_death_unknown_gender: The total unknown gender infant deaths.
• infant_death_rate: The infant death rate. Equation is infant_death_total / birth_total * 1,000
• infant_death_gender_ratio: The infant death gender ratio. Equation is infant_death_male / infant_death_female * 1,000
• infant_deaths_in_total_deaths: The infant death ratio among other deaths.
• stillbirth_total: The total number of stillbirths (dead born).
• stillbirth_male: The total number of male stillbirths.
• stillbirth_female: The total number of female stillbirths.
• stillbirth_unknown_gender: The total number of unknown gender stillbirths.
• stillbirth_rate: The stillbirth rate. Equation is stillbirth_total / (birth_total + stillbirth_total) * 1,000
• stillbirth_gender_ratio: The stillbirth gender ratio. Equation is stillbirth_male / stillbirth_female * 1,000
• firstborn: The number of firstborns.
• secondborn: The number of secondborns.
• thirdborn: The number of thirdborns.
• forthborn: The number of forthborns.
• fifthborn_and_above: The number of fifthborns and above.
• weeks_under_28: The number of births occurred under week 28. Early terms.
• weeks_28-31: The number of births occurred between weeks 28 and 31. Early terms.
• weeks_32-36: The number of births occurred between weeks 32 and 36. Early terms.
• weeks_37-41: The number of births occurred between weeks 37 and 41. Full terms.
• weeks_over_42: The number of births occurred over week 42. Late terms.
• mother_age_avg: The mother's average age.
• mother_age_firstborn: The mother's average age of the firstborn.
• mother_age_secondborn: The mother's average age of the secondborn.
• mother_age_thirdborn: The mother's average age of the thirdborn.
• mother_age_under_19: The number of births by mothers under age 19.
• mother_age_20-24: The number of births by mothers between age 20 and 24.
• mother_age_25-29: The number of births by mothers between age 25 and 29.
• mother_age_30-34: The number of births by mothers between age 30 and 34.
• mother_age_35-39: The number of births by mothers between age 35 and 39.
• mother_age_40-44: The number of births by mothers between age 40 and 44.
• mother_age_over_45: The number of births by mothers over 45.
• father_age_avg: The father's average age.
• father_age_firstborn: The father's average age of the firstborn.
• father_age_secondborn: The father's average age of the secondborn.
• father_age_thirdborn: The father's average age of the thirdborn.
• legitimate_child: The Number of births under married parents.
• illegitimate_child: The number of births under non-married parents.

Acknowledgement

E-Stat Demographic Survey

In 2024, 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.

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

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.

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 remained the same at 2.6 % in Oct 2025
• Monthly earnings of the Japan population was 2,013.9 USD in Sep 2025
• Japan Labour Force Participation Rate remained the same rate at 64.2 % in Oct 2025

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.

Graph and download economic data for Infra-Annual Labor Statistics: Working-Age Population Total: From 15 to 64 Years for Japan (LFWA64TTJPM647N) from Jan 1968 to Sep 2025 about working-age, 15 to 64 years, Japan, and population.

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;

This dataset provides world health statistics indicators for Japan. It includes different indicators for heath (Civil registration coverage of causes of deaths, Dentistry personnel density, Hospital beds, Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) prevalence among children under 5 years etc).

Comprehensive socio-economic dataset for Japan including population demographics, economic indicators, geographic data, and social statistics. This dataset covers key metrics such as GDP, population density, area, capital city, and regional classifications.

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. Data and Resources TIFF Japan - Population density (2015) DATASET: Alpha version 2010 and 2015 estimates of numbers of people per grid...

According to a projection made in 2023, it was forecast that the number of people aged 65 years or older in Japan would increase from about **** million in 2024 to around ** million people by 2033. By contrast, the number of children, as well as the working-age population, was forecast to shrink in the same period.

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).

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].

Japan JP: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data was reported at 7.800 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 8.000 Ratio for 2015. Japan JP: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 10.800 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 19.400 Ratio in 1973 and a record low of 7.800 Ratio in 2016. Japan JP: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People 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.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Crude birth rate indicates the number of live births occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.; ; (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.

Japan JP: Population: as % of Total: Female: Aged 65 and Above data was reported at 29.934 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 29.446 % for 2016. Japan JP: Population: as % of Total: Female: Aged 65 and Above data is updated yearly, averaging 13.229 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 29.934 % in 2017 and a record low of 6.270 % in 1960. Japan JP: Population: as % of Total: Female: Aged 65 and Above 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.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Female population 65 years of age or older 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.

Descriptive statistics for the clusters composed of at least ten cells.