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

Japan vs China: population pyramids in 2008

2008Swap

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 2008, Japan has a population of 128.1 million and China 1.33 billion; China is about 10 times the size of Japan.

The share aged 65 and over is 21.9% in Japan and 8.3% in China, 13.6 points higher in Japan. The median age is 44.4 years in Japan and 34.1 years in China.

The total fertility rate is 1.33 in Japan and 1.70 in China, both below the replacement level of about 2.1. Life expectancy at birth is 82.6 years in Japan and 74.8 years in China.

By 2050, the population of Japan is projected to shrink by 18.0% and that of China to shrink by 4.9% compared with 2008.

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

Key figures (2008)

JapanChina
Population128.1 million1.33 billion
Aged 0–1413.6%19.0%
Aged 15–6464.5%72.7%
Aged 65+21.9%8.3%
Median age44.4 yrs34.1 yrs
Old-age dependency34.011.4
Total fertility rate1.331.70
Life expectancy82.6 yrs74.8 yrs
Population growth+0.04%+0.62%
Net migration (per year)+142,605-764,370
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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