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

Germany vs Japan: population pyramids in 1978

1978Swap

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 1978, Germany has a population of 78.1 million and Japan 116.1 million; Japan is about 1.5 times the size of Germany.

The share aged 65 and over is 15.4% in Germany and 8.5% in Japan, 6.9 points higher in Germany. The median age is 36.3 years in Germany and 31.4 years in Japan.

The total fertility rate is 1.49 in Germany and 1.79 in Japan, both below the replacement level of about 2.1. Life expectancy at birth is 72.6 years in Germany and 75.7 years in Japan.

By 2050, the population of Germany is projected to grow by 0.3% and that of Japan to shrink by 9.5% compared with 1978.

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

Key figures (1978)

GermanyJapan
Population78.1 million116.1 million
Aged 0–1420.0%23.8%
Aged 15–6464.6%67.7%
Aged 65+15.4%8.5%
Median age36.3 yrs31.4 yrs
Old-age dependency23.912.5
Total fertility rate1.491.79
Life expectancy72.6 yrs75.7 yrs
Population growth-0.05%+0.84%
Net migration (per year)+117,167-47,996
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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