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: Population density, people per square km: The latest value from 2021 is 345 people per square km, a decline from 346 people per square km in 2020. In comparison, the world average is 456 people per square km, based on data from 196 countries. Historically, the average for Japan from 1961 to 2021 is 325 people per square km. The minimum value, 256 people per square km, was reached in 1961 while the maximum of 351 people per square km was recorded in 2004.

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).

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.

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

Historical chart and dataset showing Japan population density by year from 1961 to 2022.

Population density (people per sq. km of land area) in Japan was reported at 343 sq. Km in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Japan - Population density (people per sq. km) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

The population of the world, allocated to 1 arcsecond blocks. This refines CIESIN’s Gridded Population of the World project, using machine learning models on high-resolution worldwide Digital Globe satellite imagery.

The population density in Japan saw no significant changes in 2022 in comparison to the previous year 2021 and remained at around 343.28 inhabitants per square kilometer. But still, the population density reached its lowest value of the observation period in 2022. Population density is calculated by dividing the total population by the total land area, to show the average number of people living there per square kilometer of land.Find more key insights for the population density in countries like Mongolia.

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: 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 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 - VNM_popmap10adj_v2.tif = Vietnam (VNM) population count map for 2010 (popmap10) adjusted to match UN national estimates (adj), version 2 (v2). DATE OF PRODUCTION: January 2013

This map shows population density in Japan in 2015, by Country, Prefecture, Municipality, and Block. Population density is shown by people per square kilometer. The national average population density of Japan is 337 people per square kilometer.The pop-up is configured to show the following information at each geography level:Population densityTotal populationTotal householdsPopulation counts by age groupsPopulation counts by genderThe source of this data is Esri Japan. The vintage is 2015.Additional Esri Resources:Esri DemographicsPermitted use of this data is covered in the DATA section of the Esri Master Agreement (E204CW) and these supplemental terms.

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.

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

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.

Urban population (% of total population) in Japan was reported at 92.13 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Japan - Urban population (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

The median age of the population in Japan has steadily been increasing since 1950 and is projected to be around 47.7 years old in 2020. As of 2021, the median age of Japan is the second highest in the world, behind the Principality of Monaco. The elderly in Japan An improved quality of life and regular health checks are just two reasons why Japan has one of the highest life expectancies in the world. The life expectancy from birth in Japan improved significantly after World War II, rising 20 years in the decade between 1945 and 1955. As life expectancy continues to increase, Japan expects difficulties caring for the older generation in the future. Shortages in the service sector are already a major concern, with demand for nurses and care workers increasing. Fertility and birth rates The fertility rate among Japan’s population has been around 1.4 children per woman since 2010. Apart from a small baby boom in the early seventies, the crude birth rate of Japan has been declining since 1950 and is expected to be as low as 7.5 births per thousand people in 2020. With falling birth rates and such a large share of its inhabitants reaching their later years, Japan’s total population is expected to continue declining.

Throughout the Common Era, Japan's population saw relatively steady growth between each century. Failed invasions and distance from Asia's mainland meant that Japan was unaffected by many pandemics, primarily bubonic plague, therefore its development was not drastically impeded in the same way as areas such as China or Europe. Additionally, religious practices meant that hygiene was prioritized much more in Japan than in other regions, and dietary customs saw lower rates of meat consumption and regular boiling of water in meals or tea; both of these factors contributed to lower rates of infection for many parasitic or water-borne diseases. Fewer international conflicts and domestic stability also saw lower mortality in this regard, and Japan was an considered an outlier by Asian standards, as some shifting trends associated with the demographic transition (such as lower child mortality and fertility) began taking place in the 17th century; much earlier time than anywhere else in the world. Yet the most significant changes came in the 20th century, as Japan's advanced healthcare and sanitation systems saw drastic reductions in mortality. Challenges Japan's isolation meant that, when pandemics did arrive, the population had less protection and viruses could have higher mortality rates; smallpox has been cited as the deadliest of these pandemics, although increased international contact in the late 19th century brought new viruses, and population growth slowed. Earlier isolation also meant that crop failure or food shortages could leave large sections of the population vulnerable, and, as mentioned, the Japanese diet contained relatively little meat, therefore there was a higher reliance on crops and vegetables. It is believed that the shortage of arable land and the acidity of the soil due to volcanic activity meant that agriculture was more challenging in Japan than on the Asian mainland. For most of history, paddy fields were the most efficient source of food production in Japan, but the challenging nature of this form of agriculture and changes in employment trends gradually led to an increased reliance in imported crops. Post-Sakoku Japan Distance from the Asian mainland was not the only reason for Japan's isolation; from 1603 to 1853, under the Tokugawa shogunate, international trade was restricted, migration abroad was forbidden, and most foreign interaction was centered around Nagasaki. American neo-imperialism then forced Japan to open trade with the west, and Japan became an imperial power by the early-1900s. Japanese expansion began with a series of military victories against China and Russia at the turn of the century, and the annexation of Taiwan, Korea, and Manchuria by the 1930s, before things escalated further during its invasion of China and the Second World War. Despite its involvement in so many wars, the majority of conflicts involving Japan were overseas, therefore civilian casualties were much lower than those suffered by other Asian countries during this time. After Japan's defeat in 1945, its imperial ambitions were abandoned, it developed strong economic ties with the West, and had the fastest economic growth of any industrial country in the post-WWII period. Today, Japan is one of the most demographically advanced countries in the world, with the highest life expectancy in most years. However, its population has been in a steady decline for over a decade, and low fertility and an over-aged society are considered some of the biggest challenges to Japanese society today.

Content

The data provides the population of Japan as collected by the official Japanese government from 1920 to 2015. It is given by year, prefecture, age range, and gender.

Inspiration

Can the data be used to answer questions such as the following?

• When and how did mass movement of population occurred from rural to urban areas?
• Which prefectures are rural? Which are urban?
• Were there gender and/or age differences in the movement of population?
• In what manner is the population shifting toward aged people?
• And much more.

Method of Editing and Translation

The following script written by the dataset owner was used:

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import re

japan_census = pd.read_csv('~/Downloads/c03.csv', encoding = 'SJIS')
# Eliminate a note
japan_census = japan_census.iloc[:-1]
# Eliminate the sums across prefectures
japan_census = japan_census[japan_census['年齢5歳階級'] != '総数']

def prefecture(japanese):
 return {
  '北海道': 'Hokkaido',
  '青森県': 'Aomori Prefecture',
  '岩手県': 'Iwate Prefecture',
  '宮城県': 'Miyagi Prefecture',
  '秋田県': 'Akita Prefecture',
  '山形県': 'Yamagata Prefecture',
  '福島県': 'Fukushima Prefecture',
  '茨城県': 'Ibaraki Prefecture',
  '栃木県': 'Tochigi Prefecture',
  '群馬県': 'Gunma Prefecture',
  '埼玉県': 'Saitama Prefecture',
  '千葉県': 'Chiba Prefecture',
  '東京都': 'Tokyo Metropolis',
  '神奈川県': 'Kanagawa Prefecture',
  '新潟県': 'Niigata Prefecture',
  '富山県': 'Toyama Prefecture',
  '石川県': 'Ishikawa Prefecture',
  '福井県': 'Fukui Prefecture',
  '山梨県': 'Yamanashi Prefecture',
  '長野県': 'Nagano Prefecture',
  '岐阜県': 'Gifu Prefecture',
  '静岡県': 'Shizuoka Prefecture',
  '愛知県': 'Aichi Prefecture',
  '三重県': 'Mie Prefecture',
  '滋賀県': 'Shiga Prefecture',
  '京都府': 'Kyoto Prefecture',
  '大阪府': 'Osaka Prefecture',
  '兵庫県': 'Hyogo Prefecture',
  '奈良県': 'Nara Prefecture',
  '和歌山県': 'Wakayama Prefecture',
  '鳥取県': 'Tottori Prefecture',
  '島根県': 'Shimane Prefecture',
  '岡山県': 'Okayama Prefecture',
  '広島県': 'Hiroshima Prefecture',
  '山口県': 'Yamaguchi Prefecture',
  '徳島県': 'Tokushima Prefecture',
  '香川県': 'Kagawa Prefecture',
  '愛媛県': 'Ehime Prefecture',
  '高知県': 'Kochi Prefecture',
  '福岡県': 'Fukui Prefecture',
  '佐賀県': 'Saga Prefecture',
  '長崎県': 'Nagasaki Prefecture',
  '熊本県': 'Kumamoto Prefecture',
  '大分県': 'Oita Prefecture',
  '宮崎県': 'Miyazaki Prefecture',
  '鹿児島県': 'Kagoshima Prefecture',
  '沖縄県': 'Okinawa Prefecture',
 }.get(japanese)

japan_census_translated = pd.DataFrame()
japan_census_translated['Year'] = japan_census['西暦（年）'].astype('int')
japan_census_translated['Prefecture'] = japan_census['都道府県名'].map(lambda x: prefecture(x))
japan_census_translated[['Age Lower Bound', 'Age Upper Bound']] = [
 [m.group(1), m.group(2)] for m in japan_census['年齢5歳階級'].map(lambda x: re.search('(\d+)\D+(\d+)?', x))
]
japan_census_translated = pd.DataFrame(
 np.repeat(japan_census_translated.values, 2, axis = 0),
 columns = japan_census_translated.columns
)
japan_census_translated[['Gender', 'Population']] = [
 x for _, row in japan_census.iterrows() for x in [
  ['Male', int(row.loc['人口（男）'])],
  ['Female', int(row.loc['人口（女）'])],
 ]
]
print(japan_census_translated)
japan_census_translated.to_csv('japanese_census.csv')

This bar chart displays population (people) by ISO 3 country code using the aggregation sum in Japan. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

This bar chart displays fertility rate (births per woman) by date using the aggregation average, weighted by population female in Japan. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.