Secondary education, pupils in Japan

Japan: Secondary education, pupils was 6.61 million in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
6.61 million
Change on year
down 0.8%
World rank
19th
of 206 countries
All-time high
11.34 million
in 1988
All-time low
6.61 million
in 2023
Years of data
39
1971–2023

Secondary education, pupils in Japan, 1971–2023

02.5M5.0M7.5M10.0M12.5M1971199720231971: 8.7M1972: 8.6M1973: 8.6M1974: 8.7M1975: 8.7M1976: 8.8M1977: 9.0M1978: 9.2M1979: 9.3M1980: 9.3M1981: 9.6M1982: 9.8M1983: 10.1M1984: 10.3M1985: 10.6M1986: 11.1M1987: 11.3M1988: 11.3M1989: 11.3M1990: 11.1M1991: 11.0M1992: 10.7M1993: 10.3M1994: 10.2M1995: 9.9M1996: 9.6M1998: 9.2M1999: 9.0M2013: 7.3M2014: 7.2M2015: 7.2M2016: 7.2M2017: 7.1M2018: 7.0M2019: 6.9M2020: 6.8M2021: 6.7M2022: 6.7M2023: 6.6M

Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Analysis

In 2023, secondary education, pupils in Japan stood at 6.61 million. That is the lowest value across all 39 years on record.

That represents a change of down 0.8% on the previous year and down 9.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, secondary education, pupils in Japan peaked at 11.34 million in 1988 and was at its lowest, 6.61 million, in 2023.

Japan ranks 19th of 206 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 39 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 8.85 million 8.64 million 9.28 million 9
1980s 10.46 million 9.29 million 11.34 million 10
1990s 10.11 million 8.96 million 11.14 million 9
2010s 7.12 million 6.88 million 7.28 million 7
2020s 6.69 million 6.61 million 6.79 million 4

Countries ranked near Japan

  1. 16 Germany 6.97 million compare
  2. 17 Kenya 6.74 million compare
  3. 18 Iran 6.62 million compare
  4. 20 United Kingdom 6.40 million compare
  5. 21 France 6.27 million compare
  6. 22 Algeria 6.07 million compare

See the full ranking of 251 places →

More education data for Japan

All data for Japan →

Frequently asked questions

What is secondary education, pupils in Japan?
Secondary education, pupils in Japan was 6.61 million in 2023, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
What is the highest secondary education, pupils recorded in Japan?
The highest recorded value was 11.34 million in 1988.
What is the lowest secondary education, pupils recorded in Japan?
The lowest recorded value was 6.61 million in 2023.
How does Japan rank for secondary education, pupils?
Japan ranks 19th out of 206 countries with data for 2023.
Is secondary education, pupils rising or falling in Japan?
Over the last ten years it is down 9.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Japan data come from?
The figures come from Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as part of Secondary education, pupils. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 39 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

About this data

Indicator
Secondary education, pupils
Source
Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
251 places, 10,025 data points, 1970–2025
Last refreshed

Secondary education pupils is the total number of pupils enrolled at secondary level in public and private schools.