Japan: Population and Key Statistics

AsiaCapital: Tokyo#12 by population

With a GDP of roughly $4.1 trillion, Japan is the world's fourth-largest economy. A global leader in automotive, robotics, and precision machinery manufacturing, it is home to one of the world's longest-living societies, with a life expectancy of more than 84 years.

Japan also has one of the world's oldest age structures: the median age is 49.4, and the population has been declining since 2010. Some 92% of the population lives in cities, and the metropolitan area of the capital, Tokyo, is the world's most populous urban region with roughly 37 million people.

Population (2025)
123.4 million
123,366,734 people
GDP (2025)
$4,435bn
nominal, current US dollars
GDP per capita
$35,951
Life expectancy
84.0
years
Area
377,969
km²
Population density
326
people/km²
Median age
49.4
Internet usage
85.5%

Military Strength

Military expenditure (2024)
$55.3bn
55,274 million dollars
Share of GDP
1.37%
NATO guideline: 2%
Share of government spending
3.25%
Spending per capita
$448
per year, per person
Armed forces (2020)
261 thousand
261,000 active personnel
Armed forces per 1,000 people
2.1
0.38% of the labor force

Expenditure figures come from SIPRI and personnel counts from the IISS, both distributed through the World Bank. Source years differ by indicator, so each figure is shown with its own year.

How Japan compares

Japan and China — core indicators
010 b20 b30 b40 bGDP per capita ($)Life expectancy (years)Internet usage (%)GDP per capita ($) — Japan: 35.951Life expectancy (years) — Japan: 84Internet usage (%) — Japan: 85,5GDP per capita ($) — China: 13.862Life expectancy (years) — China: 78Internet usage (%) — China: 91,6
JapanChina

The indicators use different scales, so the chart is a rough visual comparison only. For exact figures see the full side-by-side comparison.

Data sourcesPopulation and social indicators: UN World Population Prospects, World BankEconomy: IMF World Economic Outlook, World BankMilitary: SIPRI and IISS, distributed through the World BankLast refreshed: 2026-08-26