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

China vs Japan: population pyramids in 2018

2018Swap

ChinaJapan

1%0.75%0.5%0.25%0%0.25%0.5%0.75%1%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 2018, China has a population of 1.42 billion and Japan 126.9 million; China is about 11 times the size of Japan.

The share aged 65 and over is 11.3% in China and 28.1% in Japan, 16.9 points higher in Japan. The median age is 37.4 years in China and 47.7 years in Japan.

The total fertility rate is 1.54 in China and 1.37 in Japan, both below the replacement level of about 2.1. Life expectancy at birth is 77.7 years in China and 84.3 years in Japan.

By 2050, the population of China is projected to shrink by 10.7% and that of Japan to shrink by 17.2% compared with 2018.

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

Key figures (2018)

ChinaJapan
Population1.42 billion126.9 million
Aged 0–1418.4%12.6%
Aged 15–6470.4%59.3%
Aged 65+11.3%28.1%
Median age37.4 yrs47.7 yrs
Old-age dependency16.047.5
Total fertility rate1.541.37
Life expectancy77.7 yrs84.3 yrs
Population growth+0.37%-0.14%
Net migration (per year)-198,206+320,601
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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