Share of births outside marriage in Japan

Japan: Share of births outside marriage was 2.4 in 2020. ▲ Rising

Latest (2020)
2.4
Change on year
up 4.3%
World rank
42nd
of 42 countries
All-time high
2.4
in 2020
All-time low
0.8
in 1975
Years of data
29
1960–2020

Share of births outside marriage in Japan, 1960–2020

11.522.51960199020201960: 1.21965: 11970: 0.91975: 0.81980: 0.81985: 11990: 1.11995: 1.22000: 1.62001: 1.72002: 1.92003: 1.92004: 22005: 22006: 2.12007: 22008: 2.12009: 2.12010: 2.12011: 2.22012: 2.22013: 2.22014: 2.32015: 2.32016: 2.32017: 2.22018: 2.32019: 2.32020: 2.4

Source: Our World in Data.

Analysis

In 2020, share of births outside marriage in Japan stood at 2.4. That is the highest value across all 29 years on record.

That represents a change of up 4.3% on the previous year and up 14.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of births outside marriage in Japan peaked at 2.4 in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.8, in 1975.

Japan ranks 42nd of 42 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 29 years of available data.

Share of births outside marriage in Japan, year by year

Annual values for Share of births outside marriage in Japan, 1960 to 2020.
Year Value Change
1960 1.2
1965 1 -16.7%
1970 0.9 -10.0%
1975 0.8 -11.1%
1980 0.8 +0.0%
1985 1 +25.0%
1990 1.1 +10.0%
1995 1.2 +9.1%
2000 1.6 +33.3%
2001 1.7 +6.2%
2002 1.9 +11.8%
2003 1.9 +0.0%
2004 2 +5.3%
2005 2 +0.0%
2006 2.1 +5.0%
2007 2 -4.8%
2008 2.1 +5.0%
2009 2.1 +0.0%
2010 2.1 +0.0%
2011 2.2 +4.8%
2012 2.2 +0.0%
2013 2.2 +0.0%
2014 2.3 +4.5%
2015 2.3 +0.0%
2016 2.3 +0.0%
2017 2.2 -4.3%
2018 2.3 +4.5%
2019 2.3 +0.0%
2020 2.4 +4.3%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 1.1 1 1.2 2
1970s 0.85 0.8 0.9 2
1980s 0.9 0.8 1 2
1990s 1.15 1.1 1.2 2
2000s 1.94 1.6 2.1 10
2010s 2.24 2.1 2.3 10
2020s 2.4 2.4 2.4 1

Countries ranked near Japan

  1. 39 Israel 8.11 compare
  2. 40 Republic of Korea 2.95 compare
  3. 41 Türkiye 2.8 compare

See the full ranking of 42 places →

More population data for Japan

All data for Japan →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of births outside marriage in Japan?
Share of births outside marriage in Japan was 2.4 in 2020, according to Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of births outside marriage recorded in Japan?
The highest recorded value was 2.4 in 2020.
What is the lowest share of births outside marriage recorded in Japan?
The lowest recorded value was 0.8 in 1975.
How does Japan rank for share of births outside marriage?
Japan ranks 42nd out of 42 countries with data for 2020.
Is share of births outside marriage rising or falling in Japan?
Over the last ten years it is up 14.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Japan data come from?
The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Share of births outside marriage. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 29 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Share of births outside marriage in Japan. Statizoid, drawing on Our World in Data. Retrieved 26 August 2026, from https://population.statizoid.com/stat/share-of-births-outside-marriage/japan/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://population.statizoid.com/stat/share-of-births-outside-marriage/japan/">Share of births outside marriage in Japan</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Share of births outside marriage
Source
Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
42 places, 2,139 data points, 1960–2021
Last refreshed