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

Republic of Korea vs Japan: population pyramids in 2019

2019Swap

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 2019, the Republic of Korea has a population of 51.7 million and Japan 126.7 million; Japan is about 2.5 times the size of the Republic of Korea.

The share aged 65 and over is 14.7% in the Republic of Korea and 28.4% in Japan, 13.7 points higher in Japan. The median age is 42.9 years in the Republic of Korea and 48.0 years in Japan.

The total fertility rate is 0.88 in the Republic of Korea and 1.32 in Japan, both below the replacement level of about 2.1. Life expectancy at birth is 83.7 years in the Republic of Korea and 84.4 years in Japan.

By 2050, the population of the Republic of Korea is projected to shrink by 12.4% and that of Japan to shrink by 17.1% compared with 2019.

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

Key figures (2019)

Republic of KoreaJapan
Population51.7 million126.7 million
Aged 0–1412.6%12.4%
Aged 15–6472.7%59.1%
Aged 65+14.7%28.4%
Median age42.9 yrs48.0 yrs
Old-age dependency20.248.1
Total fertility rate0.881.32
Life expectancy83.7 yrs84.4 yrs
Population growth+0.22%-0.20%
Net migration (per year)+128,622+318,190
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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