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

Japan vs China: population pyramids in 2003

2003Swap

JapanChina

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.

Japan and China compared

In 2003, Japan has a population of 127.6 million and China 1.29 billion; China is about 10 times the size of Japan.

The share aged 65 and over is 18.8% in Japan and 7.5% in China, 11.4 points higher in Japan. The median age is 42.6 years in Japan and 31.4 years in China.

The total fertility rate is 1.29 in Japan and 1.57 in China, both below the replacement level of about 2.1. Life expectancy at birth is 81.8 years in Japan and 73.4 years in China.

By 2050, the population of Japan is projected to shrink by 17.7% and that of China to shrink by 2.0% compared with 2003.

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

Key figures (2003)

JapanChina
Population127.6 million1.29 billion
Aged 0–1414.0%22.5%
Aged 15–6467.1%70.0%
Aged 65+18.8%7.5%
Median age42.6 yrs31.4 yrs
Old-age dependency28.110.7
Total fertility rate1.291.57
Life expectancy81.8 yrs73.4 yrs
Population growth+0.13%+0.59%
Net migration (per year)+74,875-613,223
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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