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Japan Demographics Profile

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Population124,687,293 (July 2021 est.)
Nationalitynoun: Japanese (singular and plural)

adjective: Japanese
Ethnic groupsJapanese 97.9%, Chinese 0.6%, Korean 0.4%, other 1.1% (includes Vietnamese, Filipino, and Brazilian) (2017 est.)

note: data represent population by nationality; up to 230,000 Brazilians of Japanese origin migrated to Japan in the 1990s to work in industries; some have returned to Brazil
LanguagesJapanese

major-language sample(s):
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ReligionsShintoism 69%, Buddhism 66.7%, Christianity 1.5%, other 6.2% (2018 est.)

note: total adherents exceeds 100% because many people practice both Shintoism and Buddhism
Age structure0-14 years: 12.49% (male 8,047,183/female 7,623,767)

15-24 years: 9.47% (male 6,254,352/female 5,635,377)

25-54 years: 36.8% (male 22,867,385/female 23,317,140)

55-64 years: 12.06% (male 7,564,067/female 7,570,732)

65 years and over: 29.18% (male 16,034,973/female 20,592,496) (2020 est.)
Dependency ratiostotal dependency ratio: 69

youth dependency ratio: 21

elderly dependency ratio: 48

potential support ratio: 2.1 (2020 est.)
Median agetotal: 48.6 years

male: 47.2 years

female: 50 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate-0.37% (2021 est.)
Birth rate7 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Death rate11.44 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Net migration rate0.75 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Population distributionall primary and secondary regions of high population density lie on the coast; one-third of the population resides in and around Tokyo on the central plain (Kanto Plain)
Urbanizationurban population: 91.9% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: -0.25% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major cities - population37.340 million TOKYO (capital), 19.111 million Osaka, 9.566 million Nagoya, 5.516 million Kitakyushu-Fukuoka, 2.930 million Shizuoka-Hamamatsu, 2.670 million Sapporo (2021)
Sex ratioat birth: 1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.11 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 0.98 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 1 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female

total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth30.7 years (2018 est.)
Maternal mortality rate5 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
Infant mortality ratetotal: 1.92 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 2.02 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 1.81 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
Life expectancy at birthtotal population: 84.65 years

male: 81.73 years

female: 87.74 years (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate1.38 children born/woman (2021 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate39.8% (2015)

note: percent of women aged 20-49
Drinking water sourceimproved: total: 100% of population

unimproved: total: 0% of population (2017 est.)
Health expenditures11% (2018)
Physicians density2.41 physicians/1,000 population (2016)
Hospital bed density13.1 beds/1,000 population (2017)
Sanitation facility accessimproved: total: 100% of population

unimproved: total: 0% of population (2017 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate<.1% (2020 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS30,000 (2020 est.)

note: estimate does not include children
HIV/AIDS - deaths<100 (2020 est.)

note: estimate does not include children
Major infectious diseasesrespiratory diseases: Covid-19 (see note) (2020)

note: clusters of cases of respiratory illness caused by a new coronavirus (COVID-19) in Japan; illness with this virus has ranged from mild to severe with fatalities reported; as of 19 July 2021, Japan has reported a total of 844,014 cases of COVID-19 or 667.33 cumulative cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 population with 11.91 cumulative deaths per 100,000 population; as of 19 July 2021, 34.41% of the population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine
Obesity - adult prevalence rate4.3% (2016)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight3.4% (2010)
Education expenditures3.2% of GDP (2017)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)total: 15 years

male: 15 years

female: 15 years (2016)

Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021