World Population PyramidsPopulation pyramids and indicators by country and year日本語

Canada vs Japan: population pyramids in 1978

1978Swap

CanadaJapan

1.5%1%0.5%0%0.5%1%1.5%0102030405060708090100MaleFemale

Each bar is the share of the total population at that single year of age (men left, women right), so countries of different sizes can be compared.

Canada and Japan compared

In 1978, Canada has a population of 23.9 million and Japan 116.1 million; Japan is about 4.9 times the size of Canada.

The share aged 65 and over is 8.9% in Canada and 8.5% in Japan, almost the same. The median age is 28.2 years in Canada and 31.4 years in Japan.

The total fertility rate is 1.68 in Canada and 1.79 in Japan, both below the replacement level of about 2.1. Life expectancy at birth is 74.5 years in Canada and 75.7 years in Japan.

By 2050, the population of Canada is projected to grow by 90.7% and that of Japan to shrink by 9.5% compared with 1978.

GDP per person is $56K in Canada (2025) and $36K in Japan (2025).

Key figures (1978)

CanadaJapan
Population23.9 million116.1 million
Aged 0–1424.4%23.8%
Aged 15–6466.7%67.7%
Aged 65+8.9%8.5%
Median age28.2 yrs31.4 yrs
Old-age dependency13.312.5
Total fertility rate1.681.79
Life expectancy74.5 yrs75.7 yrs
Population growth+1.00%+0.84%
Net migration (per year)+52,781-47,996
GDP$2.32T (2025)$4.44T (2025)
GDP per person$56K (2025)$36K (2025)
Unemployment6.9% (2025)2.5% (2025)

Economic figures are the latest year published for each country.

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