Germany vs Japan: Number of live births

Germany
784,884 births
in 2017
Japan
727,288 births
in 2023
Germany rank
3rd
Japan rank
4th

Number of live births over time

  • Germany
  • Japan
500.0k1.0M1.5M2.0M2.5M194719852023

How they compare

Germany currently reports 784,884 births against 727,288 births in Japan, a difference of 57,596 births.

That makes Germany's figure about 1.1 times Japan's.

Across all 62 years both countries report, Japan has been ahead every year.

Germany ranks 3rd and Japan ranks 4th of 34 countries.

Japan has averaged higher in every one of the 7 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Germany Japan Difference Ahead
1950s 1.18 million births 1.64 million births 463,822 births Japan
1960s 1.29 million births 1.72 million births 427,860 births Japan
1970s 859,624 births 1.90 million births 1.04 million births Japan
1980s 853,284 births 1.44 million births 582,186 births Japan
1990s 804,204 births 1.21 million births 401,281 births Japan
2000s 702,409 births 1.12 million births 413,823 births Japan
2010s 715,720 births 1.02 million births 300,019 births Japan

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher number of live births, Germany or Japan?
Germany, at 784,884 births against 727,288 births in Japan as of 2017.
What is the difference in number of live births between Germany and Japan?
57,596 births, with Germany ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Germany and Japan?
62 years are reported by both, from 1956 to 2017.
How do Germany and Japan rank globally for number of live births?
Germany ranks 3rd and Japan ranks 4th of 34 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Human Fertility Database (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Number of live births. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Number of live births
Unit
births
Source
Human Fertility Database (2025) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
34 places, 2,331 data points, 1891–2024
Last refreshed

The total number of live births recorded in a given year.