Japan vs North America: Age dependency ratio, old
Japan
51.0%
in 2025
North America
28.8%
in 2025
Japan rank
2nd
North America rank
7th
Age dependency ratio, old over time
- Japan
- North America
How they compare
Japan currently reports 51.0% against 28.8% in North America, a difference of 22.2%.
That makes Japan's figure about 1.8 times North America's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 66 shared years of data; in 1960 it was North America ahead.
Japan ranks 2nd and North America ranks 7th of 218 countries.
Across the 7 decades both report, Japan averaged higher in 4 and North America in 3.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Japan | North America | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 9.3% | 15.1% | 5.8% | North America |
| 1970s | 11.5% | 15.7% | 4.2% | North America |
| 1980s | 15.1% | 17.2% | 2.2% | North America |
| 1990s | 20.8% | 18.6% | 2.2% | Japan |
| 2000s | 30.4% | 18.3% | 12.2% | Japan |
| 2010s | 43.2% | 21.5% | 21.7% | Japan |
| 2020s | 50.2% | 26.7% | 23.4% | Japan |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher age dependency ratio, old, Japan or North America?
- Japan, at 51.0% against 28.8% in North America as of 2025.
- What is the difference in age dependency ratio, old between Japan and North America?
- 22.2%, with Japan ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Japan and North America?
- 66 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2025.
- How do Japan and North America rank globally for age dependency ratio, old?
- Japan ranks 2nd and North America ranks 7th of 218 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division, published as Age dependency ratio, old (% of working-age population). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Age dependency ratio, old, is the ratio of older dependents--people older than 64--to the working-age population--those ages 15-64. Data are shown as the proportion of dependents per 100 working-age population.