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

Germany vs Japan: population pyramids in 1959

1959Swap

GermanyJapan

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.

Germany and Japan compared

In 1959, Germany has a population of 72 million and Japan 95.2 million; Japan is about 1.3 times the size of Germany.

The share aged 65 and over is 11.2% in Germany and 5.6% in Japan, 5.7 points higher in Germany. The median age is 34.8 years in Germany and 25.1 years in Japan.

The total fertility rate is 2.36 in Germany and 2.03 in Japan, so only Japan is below the replacement level of about 2.1. Life expectancy at birth is 69.3 years in Germany and 67.5 years in Japan.

By 2050, the population of Germany is projected to grow by 8.9% and that of Japan to grow by 10.3% compared with 1959.

GDP per person is $60K in Germany (2025) and $36K in Japan (2025).

Key figures (1959)

GermanyJapan
Population72 million95.2 million
Aged 0–1420.9%30.4%
Aged 15–6467.9%64.1%
Aged 65+11.2%5.6%
Median age34.8 yrs25.1 yrs
Old-age dependency16.58.7
Total fertility rate2.362.03
Life expectancy69.3 yrs67.5 yrs
Population growth+0.73%+0.81%
Net migration (per year)+106,158-202,601
GDP$5.05T (2025)$4.44T (2025)
GDP per person$60K (2025)$36K (2025)
Unemployment3.7% (2025)2.5% (2025)

Economic figures are the latest year published for each country.

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