Poverty: Share of population living on less than $40 a day in Japan
Japan: Poverty: Share of population living on less than $40 a day was 45.9% in 2020. ▬ Flat
Poverty: Share of population living on less than $40 a day in Japan, 2008–2020
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Japan recorded 45.9% for poverty: share of population living on less than $40 a day in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 13 years on record.
That represents a change of down 7.6% on the previous year and down 1.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, poverty: share of population living on less than $40 a day in Japan peaked at 50.3% in 2011 and was at its lowest, 45.9%, in 2020.
Japan ranks 96th of 120 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
Poverty: Share of population living on less than $40 a day in Japan, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 47.0% | — |
| 2009 | 48.2% | +2.6% |
| 2010 | 46.4% | -3.7% |
| 2011 | 50.3% | +8.4% |
| 2012 | 49.9% | -0.8% |
| 2013 | 49.1% | -1.6% |
| 2014 | 50.1% | +2.0% |
| 2015 | 48.0% | -4.2% |
| 2016 | 49.1% | +2.3% |
| 2017 | 47.9% | -2.4% |
| 2018 | 49.8% | +4.0% |
| 2019 | 49.7% | -0.2% |
| 2020 | 45.9% | -7.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 47.6% | 47.0% | 48.2% | 2 |
| 2010s | 49.0% | 46.4% | 50.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 45.9% | 45.9% | 45.9% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Japan
More poverty & inequality data for Japan
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 5 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.21 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 6,245 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -1.18 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 34.86 (2022)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 34.9% (2022)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is poverty: share of population living on less than $40 a day in Japan?
- Poverty: share of population living on less than $40 a day in Japan was 45.9% in 2020, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest poverty: share of population living on less than $40 a day recorded in Japan?
- The highest recorded value was 50.3% in 2011.
- What is the lowest poverty: share of population living on less than $40 a day recorded in Japan?
- The lowest recorded value was 45.9% in 2020.
- How does Japan rank for poverty: share of population living on less than $40 a day?
- Japan ranks 96th out of 120 countries with data for 2020.
- Is poverty: share of population living on less than $40 a day rising or falling in Japan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this Japan data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Poverty: Share of population living on less than $40 a day. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below $40 per day.