Japan vs China
Side-by-side economic and demographic comparison · 2026 data · Source: IMF & World Bank
Japan and China are Asia's 2nd and 1st largest economies with a historically fraught relationship. China overtook Japan as the world's 2nd-largest economy in 2010, ending Japan's 42-year run. China's GDP now exceeds Japan's by 4x. Japan dominated Asian manufacturing for decades; now China does. Both face demographic challenges — Japan's population has been shrinking since 2008, China's since 2022.
Japan has a GDP of $4.38T compared to China's $20.85T, making it 4.8x smaller. Japan's population is 124.0M vs China's 1.41B. Across 12 key indicators, Japan leads in 7 categories. All data sourced from the IMF World Economic Outlook and World Bank World Development Indicators.
| Indicator |  Japan |  China |
|---|---|---|
| GDP (USD) | $4.38T | $20.85T✓ |
| GDP per Capita | $35,703✓ | $14,874 |
| GDP Growth (%) | 0.7% | 4.4%✓ |
| GDP per Capita (PPP) | $59,207✓ | $31,596 |
| Population | 124.0M | 1.41B✓ |
| Life Expectancy | 84.0 years✓ | 78.0 years |
| Inflation (%) | 2.2% | 1.2%✓ |
| Unemployment (%) | 2.5%✓ | 5.1% |
| Govt Debt (% GDP) | 204.4% | 106.9%✓ |
| Fertility Rate | 1.1✓ | 1 |
| Gini Index | 32.3✓ | 36 |
| CO₂ per Capita (t) | 7.8✓ | 9.3 |
Summary
Japan has a GDP of $4.38T compared to China's $20.85T, making the latter economy 4.8x larger. In terms of population, Japan has 124.0M people while China has 1.41B. Across the 12 indicators compared, Japan leads in 7 and China leads in 5.