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

China vs Japan: population pyramids in 1971

1971Swap

ChinaJapan

2%1.5%1%0.5%0%0.5%1%1.5%2%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.

China and Japan compared

In 1971, China has a population of 834.1 million and Japan 107.3 million; China is about 7.8 times the size of Japan.

The share aged 65 and over is 3.7% in China and 7.1% in Japan, 3.4 points higher in Japan. The median age is 19.0 years in China and 29.4 years in Japan.

The total fertility rate is 5.52 in China and 2.09 in Japan, so only Japan is below the replacement level of about 2.1. Life expectancy at birth is 57.7 years in China and 72.8 years in Japan.

By 2050, the population of China is projected to grow by 51.7% and that of Japan to shrink by 2.1% compared with 1971.

GDP per person is $14K in China (2025) and $36K in Japan (2025).

Key figures (1971)

ChinaJapan
Population834.1 million107.3 million
Aged 0–1440.7%23.2%
Aged 15–6455.6%69.7%
Aged 65+3.7%7.1%
Median age19.0 yrs29.4 yrs
Old-age dependency6.710.2
Total fertility rate5.522.09
Life expectancy57.7 yrs72.8 yrs
Population growth+2.37%+1.15%
Net migration (per year)-180,153-107,778
GDP$19.5T (2025)$4.44T (2025)
GDP per person$14K (2025)$36K (2025)
Unemployment4.6% (2025)2.5% (2025)

Economic figures are the latest year published for each country.

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