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

Japan vs China: population pyramids in 1978

1978Swap

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 1978, Japan has a population of 116.1 million and China 949.8 million; China is about 8.2 times the size of Japan.

The share aged 65 and over is 8.5% in Japan and 4.1% in China, 4.3 points higher in Japan. The median age is 31.4 years in Japan and 21.0 years in China.

The total fertility rate is 1.79 in Japan and 2.72 in China, so only Japan is below the replacement level of about 2.1. Life expectancy at birth is 75.7 years in Japan and 63.1 years in China.

By 2050, the population of Japan is projected to shrink by 9.5% and that of China to grow by 33.2% compared with 1978.

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

Key figures (1978)

JapanChina
Population116.1 million949.8 million
Aged 0–1423.8%39.3%
Aged 15–6467.7%56.5%
Aged 65+8.5%4.1%
Median age31.4 yrs21.0 yrs
Old-age dependency12.57.3
Total fertility rate1.792.72
Life expectancy75.7 yrs63.1 yrs
Population growth+0.84%+1.32%
Net migration (per year)-47,996-9,916
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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