Share of the population that is female in Japan

Japan: Share of the population that is female was 51.2% in 2025. ▬ Flat

Latest (2025)
51.2%
Change on year
up 0.1%
World rank
51st
of 215 countries
All-time high
51.4%
in 1960
All-time low
50.6%
in 1981
Years of data
66
1960–2025

Share of the population that is female in Japan, 1960–2025

0204060196019922025

Source: United Nations Population Division and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of total.

Analysis

In 2025, share of the population that is female in Japan stood at 51.2%.

That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and up 0.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of the population that is female in Japan peaked at 51.4% in 1960 and was at its lowest, 50.6%, in 1981.

Japan ranks 51st of 215 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

Share of the population that is female in Japan, year by year

Annual values for Share of the population that is female in Japan, 1960 to 2025.
Year % of total Change
1960 51.4% —
1961 51.4% -0.0%
1962 51.3% -0.1%
1963 51.3% -0.1%
1964 51.2% -0.1%
1965 51.2% -0.1%
1966 51.2% -0.1%
1967 51.1% -0.1%
1968 51.0% -0.1%
1969 51.0% -0.1%
1970 50.9% -0.1%
1971 50.9% -0.1%
1972 50.8% -0.2%
1973 50.7% -0.1%
1974 50.7% -0.1%
1975 50.7% -0.0%
1976 50.7% -0.0%
1977 50.6% -0.0%
1978 50.6% -0.0%
1979 50.6% -0.0%
1980 50.6% -0.0%
1981 50.6% -0.0%
1982 50.6% +0.0%
1983 50.6% +0.0%
1984 50.6% +0.0%
1985 50.6% +0.0%
1986 50.6% +0.0%
1987 50.6% +0.0%
1988 50.6% +0.0%
1989 50.6% +0.0%
1990 50.6% +0.0%
1991 50.7% +0.0%
1992 50.7% +0.0%
1993 50.7% +0.0%
1994 50.7% +0.0%
1995 50.7% +0.0%
1996 50.7% +0.0%
1997 50.8% +0.0%
1998 50.8% +0.0%
1999 50.8% +0.0%
2000 50.8% +0.0%
2001 50.8% +0.0%
2002 50.9% +0.0%
2003 50.9% +0.1%
2004 50.9% +0.1%
2005 50.9% +0.1%
2006 51.0% +0.1%
2007 51.0% +0.1%
2008 51.0% +0.1%
2009 51.1% +0.1%
2010 51.1% +0.1%
2011 51.1% +0.0%
2012 51.1% +0.0%
2013 51.1% +0.0%
2014 51.1% +0.0%
2015 51.1% +0.0%
2016 51.1% +0.0%
2017 51.1% +0.0%
2018 51.1% +0.0%
2019 51.1% +0.0%
2020 51.1% +0.0%
2021 51.2% +0.0%
2022 51.2% +0.0%
2023 51.2% +0.0%
2024 51.2% +0.0%
2025 51.2% +0.0%

Japan compared with similar countries

  • Japan's 51.2% is above the median for high income countries, which is 50.6%, 1.0× the median. (85 countries reporting)
  • Japan's 51.2% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 49.8%, 1.0× the median. (37 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 51.2% 51.0% 51.4% 10
1970s 50.7% 50.6% 50.9% 10
1980s 50.6% 50.6% 50.6% 10
1990s 50.7% 50.6% 50.8% 10
2000s 50.9% 50.8% 51.1% 10
2010s 51.1% 51.1% 51.1% 10
2020s 51.2% 51.1% 51.2% 6

Countries ranked near Japan

  1. 48 Guyana 51.3% compare
  2. 49 Kazakhstan 51.3% compare
  3. 50 Lesotho 51.2% compare
  4. 52 Malawi 51.2% compare
  5. 53 Slovakia 51.2% compare
  6. 54 Rwanda 51.2% compare

See the full ranking of 215 places →

More gender data for Japan

All data for Japan →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of the population that is female in Japan?
Share of the population that is female in Japan was 51.2% in 2025, according to United Nations Population Division and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of the population that is female recorded in Japan?
The highest recorded value was 51.4% in 1960.
What is the lowest share of the population that is female recorded in Japan?
The lowest recorded value was 50.6% in 1981.
How does Japan rank for share of the population that is female?
Japan ranks 51st out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
Is share of the population that is female rising or falling in Japan?
Over the last ten years it is up 0.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
Where does this Japan data come from?
The figures come from United Nations Population Division and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the population that is female. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Share of the population that is female in Japan. Statizoid, drawing on United Nations Population Division and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 24 September 2026, from https://gender.statizoid.com/stat/share-population-female/japan/

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About this data

Indicator
Share of the population that is female
Unit
% of total
Source
United Nations Population Division and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
215 places, 14,190 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed