Historical dataset of population level and growth rate for the Tokyo, Japan metro area from 1950 to 2025.

As of 2025, Tokyo-Yokohama in Japan was the largest world urban agglomeration, with 37 million people living there. Delhi ranked second with more than 34 million, with Shanghai in third with more than 30 million inhabitants.

Population, female (% of total population) in Japan was reported at 51.22 % in 2024, 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 September of 2025.

In 2024, about 93.7 percent of men aged 45 to 54 years in Tokyo Prefecture in Japan were employed. The employment rate of men aged 65 years and older declined to 35.2 percent.

Japan’s largest city, greater Tokyo, had a staggering ***** million inhabitants in 2023, making it the most populous city across the Asia-Pacific region. India had the second largest city after Japan with a population consisting of approximately ** million inhabitants. Contrastingly, approximately *** thousand inhabitants populated Papua New Guinea's largest city in 2023. A megacity regionNot only did Japan and India have the largest cities throughout the Asia-Pacific region but they were among the three most populated cities worldwide in 2023. Interestingly, over half on the world’s megacities were situated in the Asia-Pacific region. However, being home to more than half of the world’s population, it does not seem surprising that by 2025 it is expected that more than two thirds of the megacities across the globe will be located in the Asia Pacific region. Other megacities are also expected to emerge within the Asia-Pacific region throughout the next decade. There have even been suggestions that Indonesia’s Jakarta and its conurbation will overtake Greater Tokyo in terms of population size by 2030. Increasing populationsIncreased populations in megacities can be down to increased economic activity. As more countries across the Asia-Pacific region have made the transition from agriculture to industry, the population has adjusted accordingly. Thus, more regions have experienced higher shares of urban populations. However, as many cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Seoul have an aging population, this may have an impact on their future population sizes, with these Asian regions estimated to have significant shares of the population being over 65 years old by 2035.

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 September of 2025.

In 2023, the total population in Japan's capital Tokyo Prefecture amounted to approximately **** million inhabitants. Tokyo's population rebounded after it declined for the first time post-WWII in ****.

In 2024, the average land price in Tokyo Prefecture stood at about 1.21 million Japanese yen per square meter. The average land price is based on land price surveys conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism and prefectural governments in January and July each year.Average land prices in JapanAverage land prices in Japan showed an upward trend in recent years that was interrupted during the coronavirus pandemic. Partly due to the ongoing depopulation of many rural areas, land prices tend to be significantly higher in the more urban areas. Among all the prefectures in Japan, Tokyo had the highest average official land prices, followed by Osaka and Kyoto. The buildings with the highest commercial land prices in Japan were all located in the capital city as of 2024.The situation in TokyoWithin Tokyo, the wards Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shibuya, and Shinjuku form the central business district, which is marked by particularly high rents and low vacancy rates. Among the 23 wards of the city, Chuo had the highest standard land price in 2024. The ward lies to the east of Tokyo Station and encompasses Ginza, which is one of the country’s most expensive shopping areas. Japan’s booming tourism industry, as well as rebuilding and redevelopment projects, have been some of the factors contributing to rising land prices in Tokyo’s commercial areas before the pandemic.

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.

With approximately **** million inhabitants, Tokyo was Japan's most populous city as of 2023, followed by Yokohama, which, in the same year, counted about **** million inhabitants. In total, there were twelve cities with a population of over one million people in Japan.

The cardiac surgery instruments market in Japan size was valued at USD 141.3 million in 2024 and is anticipated to surpass USD 357.1 million by the end of 2036, expanding at a CAGR of 8% during the forecast period, i.e., 2025-2036. Tokyo is the largest healthcare market in Japan due to the high population density that puts pressure on the healthcare delivery systems for cardiac surgery instruments.

In 2025, the degree of urbanization worldwide was at 58 percent. North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean were the regions with the highest level of urbanization, with over four-fifths of the population residing in urban areas. The degree of urbanization defines the share of the population living in areas defined as "cities". On the other hand, less than half of Africa's population lives in urban settlements. Globally, China accounts for over one-quarter of the built-up areas of more than 500,000 inhabitants. The definition of a city differs across various world regions - some countries count settlements with 100 houses or more as urban, while others only include the capital of a country or provincial capitals in their count. Largest agglomerations worldwideThough North America is the most urbanized continent, no U.S. city was among the top ten urban agglomerations worldwide in 2023. Tokyo-Yokohama in Japan was the largest urban area in the world that year, with 37.7 million inhabitants. New York ranked 13th, with 21.4 million inhabitants. Eight of the 10 most populous cities are located in Asia. ConnectivityIt may be hard to imagine how the reality will look in 2050, with 70 percent of the global population living in cities, but some statistics illustrate the ways urban living differs from suburban and rural living. American urbanites may lead more “connected” (i.e., internet-connected) lives than their rural and/or suburban counterparts. As of 2021, around 89 percent of people living in urban areas owned a smartphone. Internet usage was also higher in cities than in rural areas. On the other hand, rural areas always have, and always will, attract those who want to escape the rush of the city.

As of mid-2025, Port of Spain ranked as the second Latin American and Caribbean city with the highest cost of living. The capital of Trinidad and Tobago obtained an index score of 55.2, followed by the Uruguayan capital, with 53.3 points.

In Japan, the population sex ratio has seen slight changes over the past decades. In 2021, the number of men was around **** for every 100 women, constituting a decrease from **** in 1950.

What is the sex ratio? The population sex ratio is determined by the sex ratio at birth, different mortality rates between men and women, as well as losses and gains through migration. In the absence of alteration, the sex ratio in human populations is quite constant, with only minor deviations. While the sex ratio at birth is usually *** to ***, the population sex ratio, which refers to the total number of males for every 100 females, is often below 100. The reason for the shift mostly lies in differing lifestyles and physical constitutions of men and women. In general, women tend to be more resistant to disease throughout life, while men tend to engage in higher risk behavior or violence.

Influences and consequences
The sex ratio at birth and its possible determinants such as gestation environment, climate change, chemical pollution or socio-economic factors have long been subject to scientific research. Recently the impact of natural disasters, like the nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011, was presumed to influence the sex ratio at birth. The adult gender ratio has long been recognized as a key population-level determinant of behavior. However, there are many different or competing theories in existing literature about the social impacts of gender imbalance on topics such as violence, family stability, reproduction etc.

In 2025, the average land price in Japan amounted to ******* Japanese yen per square meter. The average land price is based on land price surveys conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism and prefectural governments in January and July each year. Japan’s geography The Japanese archipelago consists of the five main islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Okinawa in addition to thousands of smaller islands. Together, they cover a surface area of around ******* square kilometers. ************** of the country’s land area is covered by mountains. Forestland and farmland constitute about ** percent of its landmass, while developed land accounts for **** percent. The population of *** million is concentrated in major cities like Tokyo, which is home to over **** million inhabitants. Urban-rural divide and land prices Owing to an overconcentration of economic activity in Tokyo and other major cities like Osaka and Nagoya, more than half of the population is located in ***** metropolitan areas. Tokyo and its surrounding prefectures that comprise the Tokyo metropolitan area attract many people from other parts of the country each year, often young individuals seeking jobs or starting university. In contrast, rural regions are confronted with depopulation and economic stagnation. Japan’s urban-rural divide is also reflected in land prices. Tokyo has by far the most expensive land prices. In terms of land price growth, the cities of Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka have outpaced the Greater Tokyo Area in the past decade.

In 2024, the gross total floor area of new large-scale office buildings in Tokyo’s 23 wards amounted to approximately ******* square meters. The supply volume of new office space was forecasted to increase to **** million square meters in 2025. Tokyo Metropolis Tokyo Metropolis is Japan’s largest city, with a population of more than **** million inhabitants. It consists of 23 special wards and over 30 towns, cities, and villages. The five wards of Chuo, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Minato, and Chiyoda form Tokyo’s central business district. These districts boast the highest average land prices and rents for office space in the city. Tokyo is the leading office market in Japan, and a large proportion of office buildings are concentrated there. Office buildings in Tokyo The floor space of office buildings with a floor size of 100 tsubo or more in the central business districts of Tokyo reached over ** million tsubo in 2024, equal to about **** square kilometers. Most of the existing office building stock in Tokyo was completed between the 1980s and 1990s. During this time, Japan experienced an asset price bubble that led to a real estate development boom. Some major office construction projects in Tokyo are scheduled to be completed in the coming years. ***********, for example, will become Japan's tallest building, with a height of *** meters, upon its completion in 2028.

The majority of Japanese adhere to Shintoism, a traditional Japanese religion focusing on rituals and worship at shrines. In 2021, around 48.6 percent of the total population of Japan participated in Shinto practices. Closely behind is Buddhism, with more than 46 percent of the population adhering to its practices. Most Japanese thus practice both religions. The original ShintoShintoism adherents worship spirits or gods at shrines, often publicly, through rituals and traditions. Shintoism is deeply ingrained in the Japanese culture and way of life, but the number of followers has been decreasing over the past years, as has the number of Japanese who are adhering to any kind of religion. Tradition seems to have to make way for modern attitudes and choices – still the number of people who call themselves Shinto adherents is quite high, even if they do not actively practice it. Everything zen in BuddhismWhile Shintoism seems to become a thing of the past, the number of Buddhists, on the other hand, has been stable over the last decade, and if anything, has only slightly decreased. Japan is, in fact, among the countries with the largest Buddhist communities, right after China, of course, and Thailand. This might be due to Buddhism being able to adapt much easier to modern times and its adherents’ everyday lives, as well as a better PR machine – Buddhism is, after all, also quite popular in the Western world.

In 2021, the poverty rate in Japan was **** percent. The rate had been on a downward trend since it peaked in 2012 at **** percent. The poverty rate refers to the ratio of the number of people whose income is less than half the median household income of the total population.