Japan vs China

Japan
East Asia & Pacific
High income
Capital: Tokyo
Population
124M
GDP
$4.0T
China
East Asia & Pacific
Upper middle income
Capital: Beijing
Population
1.4B
GDP
$18.7T

POP 11.4x GDP 4.7x LE 6.0 yrs HIC↔UMC

Widest indicator spreads · Japan vs China

Net Migration148.1%Poverty (< $2.15/day)100%GDP Growth Rate97.9%PPP Conversion Factor (G…96.3%Inflation (Consumer Pric…92%Population91.2%Maternal Mortality Ratio81.3%GDP (Current USD)78.5%
WIDE pair: the board is the Net Migration gap first (Japan HIC vs China UMC).

Demographics: Population (China, 91% spread)

Indicator Japan China Year
Population 124M 1.4B 2024
Population Density 341.5 150.3 2023
Population Ages 65+ 29.8% 14.7% 2024
Population Growth Rate -0.4% -0.1% 2024

3 closer demographics rows sit on the Japan and China profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Economy: GDP Growth Rate (China, 98% spread)

Indicator Japan China Year
GDP Growth Rate 0.1% 5.0% 2024
Inflation (Consumer Prices) 2.7% 0.2% 2024
GDP (Current USD) $4.0T $18.7T 2024
GNI Per Capita $36,000 $13,660 2024

4 closer economy rows sit on the Japan and China profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Health: Maternal Mortality Ratio (Japan, 81% spread)

Indicator Japan China Year
Maternal Mortality Ratio 3 16 2023
Under-5 Mortality Rate 2.4 5.7 2024
Infant Mortality Rate 1.8 4.1 2024
Health Expenditure (% of GDP) 10.7% 5.9% 2023

3 closer health rows sit on the Japan and China profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Education: Education Expenditure (% of GDP) (China, 17% spread)

Indicator Japan China Year
Education Expenditure (% of GDP) 3.3% 4.0% 2021
School Enrollment (Tertiary) 64.9% 76.9% 2023

4 closer education rows sit on the Japan and China profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Environment: Forest Area (Japan, 65% spread)

Indicator Japan China Year
Forest Area 68.4% 24.0% 2023
Renewable Energy Consumption 8.8% 15.2% 2021
CO2 Emissions Per Capita 7.8 9.3 2024

2 closer environment rows sit on the Japan and China profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Infrastructure: Access to Sanitation (Japan, 31% spread)

Indicator Japan China Year
Access to Sanitation 99.2% 68.9% 2024
Mobile Subscriptions 178.4 131.8 2023

3 closer infrastructure rows sit on the Japan and China profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Social: Net Migration (Japan, 148% spread)

Indicator Japan China Year
Net Migration 153.4K -318,992 2024
Poverty (< $2.15/day) 1.2% 0.0% 2020
Intentional Homicides 0.2 0.5 2023

3 closer social rows sit on the Japan and China profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Labor & Wages: PPP Conversion Factor (GDP) (Japan, 96% spread)

Indicator Japan China Year
PPP Conversion Factor (GDP) 94.5 3.5 2024
Average Monthly Earnings 2800.8 806.9 2021
Average Weekly Hours Worked 36.6 46.1 2020

How to read this Japan vs China comparison

Japan (HIC, East Asia & Pacific) vs China (UMC, East Asia & Pacific) is a WIDE WDI pair: population is 11.4x smaller (124M vs 1.4B) and total GDP is 4.7x smaller ($4.0T vs $18.7T). The gap board leads on Net Migration (~148% relative spread) across 47 indicators in 8 topics. Cross-tier pair; prefer per-capita and rate columns over raw totals. Figures may come from different reporting years; dollar values move with exchange rates; national averages conceal inequality. See our methodology.

Other curated pairs · WIDE band

Indexable comparisons only (Module 42). Full picker with every country lives on /compare, not duplicated under every pair.

Japan vs China figures: World Bank Open Data and health rows: WHO Global Health Observatory. CC BY 4.0 · HIC↔UMC · WIDE scale band.