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

Japan vs Germany: population pyramids in 1998

1998Swap

JapanGermany

1%0.75%0.5%0.25%0%0.25%0.5%0.75%1%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 Germany compared

In 1998, Japan has a population of 126.4 million and Germany 82.4 million; Japan is about 1.5 times the size of Germany.

The share aged 65 and over is 16.0% in Japan and 15.7% in Germany, almost the same. The median age is 40.9 years in Japan and 38.9 years in Germany.

The total fertility rate is 1.37 in Japan and 1.36 in Germany, both below the replacement level of about 2.1. Life expectancy at birth is 80.7 years in Japan and 77.6 years in Germany.

By 2050, the population of Japan is projected to shrink by 16.9% and that of Germany to shrink by 4.9% compared with 1998.

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

Key figures (1998)

JapanGermany
Population126.4 million82.4 million
Aged 0–1414.9%16.0%
Aged 15–6469.0%68.3%
Aged 65+16.0%15.7%
Median age40.9 yrs38.9 yrs
Old-age dependency23.223.0
Total fertility rate1.371.36
Life expectancy80.7 yrs77.6 yrs
Population growth+0.22%-0.98%
Net migration (per year)+45,912-754,469
GDP$4.44T (2025)$5.05T (2025)
GDP per person$36K (2025)$60K (2025)
Unemployment2.5% (2025)3.7% (2025)

Economic figures are the latest year published for each country.

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