Health at a Glance 2025: Japan
Table of contents
Health at a Glance provides a comprehensive set of indicators on population health and health system performance across OECD Members, Key Partners and accession candidate countries. These indicators cover health status, non-medical determinants and risk factors, access to and quality of healthcare, health spending and health system resources. Analysis draws from the latest comparable official national statistics and other sources.
This country note shows how Japan compares to other OECD countries across a selection of key indicators from the report.
Japan performs better than the OECD average on 4 out of 10 key indicators measuring health status and risk factors for health (missing data on 1 of these indicators).
Source: OECD Health Statistics 2025.
Health status
In Japan, life expectancy was 84.1 years, 3.0 years above the OECD average.
Preventable mortality was 86 per 100 000 in Japan (lower than the OECD average of 145); with treatable mortality at 49 per 100 000 (lower than the OECD average of 77).
Suicide rates were 16 per 100 000 population in Japan, compared to the OECD average of 11 deaths per 100 000 population.
13.5% of people in Japan rated their health as bad or very bad (OECD average 8.0%).
Risk factors for health
Daily smoking prevalence in Japan, at 15.7%, was similar to the OECD average of 14.8%.
Alcohol consumption was lower than the OECD average; at 6.7 litres per capita in Japan versus 8.5.
51% of adults in Japan did not perform sufficient physical activity, higher than the OECD average of 30%.
No comparable data are available on self-reported obesity prevalence.
People in Japan were exposed to 12.6 micrograms of ambient particulate matter (PM2.5) per cubic metre (OECD average 11.2 micrograms).
See Health at a Glance 2025, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 for further details on these and related indicators.
Japan performs better than the OECD average on 7 out of 10 key indicators measuring access to and quality of care (missing data on 2 of these indicators).
Note: AMI: Acute Myocardial Infarction. DDD: Defined Daily Dose.
Source: OECD Health Statistics 2025.
Access to care
In Japan, all of the population is covered for a core set of services, while 98% of population is covered on average of OECD countries.
80% of people in Japan were satisfied with the availability of quality healthcare (OECD average 64%).
In terms of financial coverage, 85% of spending in Japan was covered by mandatory prepayment, higher than the OECD average of 75%.
No comparable data are available on unmet needs.
Quality of care
99% of eligible children were vaccinated against DTP in Japan, higher than the OECD average.
45% of women in Japan were screened for breast cancer, less than the OECD average of 55%.
Japan prescribed 10 defined daily doses of antibiotics per 1 000 population, less than the OECD average of 16.
No comparable data are available on avoidable admissions.
In Japan, 30‑day mortality after AMI was 4.9% (OECD average 6.5%), and 2.1% after stroke (OECD average 7.7%), based on unlinked data.
See Health at a Glance 2025, Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 for further details on these and related indicators.
Japan has more resources than the OECD average on 6 out of 10 key indicators measuring health system resources.
Note: CT: Computer Tomography; MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging; PET: Positron Emission Tomography.
Source: OECD Health Statistics 2025.
Health spending
Japan spends $5 790 per capita on health, less than the OECD average of $5 967 (USD PPP).
This is equal to 10.6% of GDP, compared to 9.3% on average in the OECD.
Japan spends 2.4% of total health spending on prevention in current health expenditure, similar to the OECD average of 3.4%.
Health workforce
There are 2.6 practising doctors per 1 000 population in Japan (OECD average 3.9); and 12.2 practising nurses (OECD average 9.2).
The number of long-term care workers per 100 people aged 65 years and over in Japan is 6.8, higher than the OECD average of 5.0.
There are 203 pharmacists per 100 000 population in Japan, compared to the OECD average of 86.
Hospitals and equipment
Japan has 12.5 hospital beds per 1 000 population, higher than the OECD average of 4.2.
There are 184 CT scanners, MRI units and PET scanners per million population in Japan (OECD average 51).
The share of generics in the pharmaceutical market (by volume) is 52% in Japan, compared to the OECD average of 56%.
See Health at a Glance 2025, Chapter 5, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 for further details on these and related indicators.
Health at a Glance provides a comprehensive set of indicators on population health and health system performance across OECD Members, Key Partners and accession candidate countries. These indicators cover health status, non-medical determinants and risk factors, access to and quality of healthcare, health spending and health system resources. Analysis draws from the latest comparable official national statistics and other sources.
Alongside indicator-by-indicator analysis, an overview chapter summarises the comparative performance of countries and major trends. This edition also includes a thematic chapter on gender and health.
This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Member countries of the OECD.
This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.
The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.
The full book is available in English: OECD (2025), Health at a Glance 2025, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/8f9e3f98-en.
© OECD 2025
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. By using this work, you accept to be bound by the terms of this licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Attribution – you must cite the work.
Translations – you must cite the original work, identify changes to the original and add the following text: In the event of any discrepancy between the original work and the translation, only the text of the original work should be considered valid.
Adaptations – you must cite the original work and add the following text: This is an adaptation of an original work by the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed in this adaptation should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its Member countries.
Third-party material – the licence does not apply to third-party material in the work. If using such material, you are responsible for obtaining permission from the third party and for any claims of infringement.
You must not use the OECD logo, visual identity or cover image without express permission or suggest the OECD endorses your use of the work.
Any dispute arising under this licence shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Arbitration Rules 2012. The seat of arbitration shall be Paris (France). The number of arbitrators shall be one.