Urban population in Japan
Japan: Urban population was 113.87 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
Urban population in Japan, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
In 2025, urban population in Japan stood at 113.87 million.
The figure is down 0.4% on the previous year and down 2.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, urban population in Japan peaked at 116.24 million in 2017 and was at its lowest, 58.97 million, in 1960.
That places Japan 7th out of 215 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 65.73 million | 58.97 million | 72.67 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 82.69 million | 74.31 million | 88.21 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 92.17 million | 88.97 million | 95.02 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 97.58 million | 95.50 million | 99.34 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 108.00 million | 99.71 million | 115.39 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 116.17 million | 116.06 million | 116.24 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 114.88 million | 113.87 million | 115.88 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Japan
More climate change data for Japan
- Population growth -0.5% (2025)
- Population, total 123.37 million (2025)
- Urban population growth -0.4% (2025)
- Urban population 92.3% (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 65.6% (2025)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 79.7 billion cubic meters (2022)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 18.5% (2022)
- Terrestrial protected areas 29.7% (2025)
- Terrestrial and marine protected areas 15.1% (2025)
- Marine protected areas 13.8% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is urban population in Japan?
- Urban population in Japan was 113.87 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest urban population recorded in Japan?
- The highest recorded value was 116.24 million in 2017.
- What is the lowest urban population recorded in Japan?
- The lowest recorded value was 58.97 million in 1960.
- How does Japan rank for urban population?
- Japan ranks 7th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is urban population rising or falling in Japan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 2.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Japan data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Urban population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.