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

Republic of Korea vs Japan: population pyramids in 2017

2017Swap

Republic of KoreaJapan

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.

Republic of Korea and Japan compared

In 2017, the Republic of Korea has a population of 51.4 million and Japan 127 million; Japan is about 2.5 times the size of the Republic of Korea.

The share aged 65 and over is 13.6% in the Republic of Korea and 27.7% in Japan, 14.2 points higher in Japan. The median age is 41.8 years in the Republic of Korea and 47.3 years in Japan.

The total fertility rate is 1.04 in the Republic of Korea and 1.39 in Japan, both below the replacement level of about 2.1. Life expectancy at birth is 83.3 years in the Republic of Korea and 84.2 years in Japan.

By 2050, the population of the Republic of Korea is projected to shrink by 11.9% and that of Japan to shrink by 17.3% compared with 2017.

GDP per person is $36K in the Republic of Korea (2025) and $36K in Japan (2025).

Key figures (2017)

Republic of KoreaJapan
Population51.4 million127 million
Aged 0–1413.2%12.7%
Aged 15–6473.3%59.6%
Aged 65+13.6%27.7%
Median age41.8 yrs47.3 yrs
Old-age dependency18.546.5
Total fertility rate1.041.39
Life expectancy83.3 yrs84.2 yrs
Population growth+0.33%-0.10%
Net migration (per year)+104,029+322,564
GDP$1.87T (2025)$4.44T (2025)
GDP per person$36K (2025)$36K (2025)
Unemployment2.7% (2025)2.5% (2025)

Economic figures are the latest year published for each country.

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