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

Japan vs China: population pyramids in 1971

1971Swap

JapanChina

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.

Japan and China compared

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

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

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

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

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

Key figures (1971)

JapanChina
Population107.3 million834.1 million
Aged 0–1423.2%40.7%
Aged 15–6469.7%55.6%
Aged 65+7.1%3.7%
Median age29.4 yrs19.0 yrs
Old-age dependency10.26.7
Total fertility rate2.095.52
Life expectancy72.8 yrs57.7 yrs
Population growth+1.15%+2.37%
Net migration (per year)-107,778-180,153
GDP$4.44T (2025)$19.5T (2025)
GDP per person$36K (2025)$14K (2025)
Unemployment2.5% (2025)4.6% (2025)

Economic figures are the latest year published for each country.

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