Matchup file

Japan vs North Korea

83 shared metrics.

JapanLeads in 60

vs83 shared

North KoreaLeads in 23

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Japan leads by 37 metrics. Use the same instinct in a quick real-data brawl.

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Country briefing

What matters for both sides

Short real-world notes so the comparison reads like more than a stat strip.

Japan

Quick notes before you compare the numbers.

Identity

Name origin: the English word for Japan comes from the Chinese name for the country, Cipangu.

CIA 2026

Curated stat

Japan's long slowdown after its asset bubble is famous as the Lost Decade era.

Britannica

North Korea

Quick notes before you compare the numbers.

Identity

Formal name: Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

CIA 2026

Curated stat

North Korea has tightly restricted internet access; most people are not using the open web.

CIA

Analysis

Japan leads in 60 of 83 shared metrics, while North Korea leads in 23.

Japan's Air Passengers is 32602.2x that of North Korea (120.31M vs 3.7K).

Japan's Foreign Patents is 11123.7x that of North Korea (66.7K vs 6.0).

Japan's Scientific Publications is 392.6x that of North Korea (103.7K vs 263.49).

Japan's Freedom of Expression Index is 64.2x that of North Korea (0.85 vs 0.01).

Japan's Liberal Democracy Index is 51.4x that of North Korea (0.73 vs 0.01).

Key Comparisons

Air PassengersJapan leads

Japan

120.31M

North Korea

3.7K

Foreign PatentsJapan leads

Japan

66.7K

North Korea

6.0

Scientific PublicationsJapan leads

Japan

103.7K

North Korea

263.49

Freedom of Expression IndexJapan leads

Japan

0.85

North Korea

0.01

Liberal Democracy IndexJapan leads

Japan

0.73

North Korea

0.01

Electric Generating CapacityJapan leads

Japan

26 sites

North Korea

3.0 sites

767% higher

Comparison of Japan and North Korea across 83 metrics
				Winner
Air Passengers	120.31M	3.7K	3260224% higher	Japan
Foreign Patents	66.7K	6.0	1112367% higher	Japan
Scientific Publications	103.7K	263.49	39265% higher	Japan
Freedom of Expression Index	0.85	0.01	6415% higher	Japan
Liberal Democracy Index	0.73	0.01	5143% higher	Japan
Electric Generating Capacity	361.62M kW	8.36M kW	4227% higher	Japan
Electricity Generation	1.0K TWh	26.55 TWh	3750% higher	Japan
Domestic Patents	222.5K	6.9K	3107% higher	Japan
Merchant Fleet Size	5.2K	264	1881% higher	Japan
Milk Consumption per Person	72.06 kg/person/yr	3.8 kg/person/yr	1801% higher	Japan
Solar Electricity Share	9.8%	0.63%	1457% higher	Japan
Total CO2 Emissions	972.27 Mt CO2e	66.24 Mt CO2e	1368% higher	Japan
All-Time Olympic Gold Medals	211 gold medals	16 gold medals	1219% higher	Japan
Protected Land (%)	29.5%	2.4%	1129% higher	Japan
Coastline Length	29.8K km	2.5K km	1092% higher	Japan
All-Time Olympic Medals	642 medals	63 medals	919% higher	Japan
Electoral Democracy Index	0.82	0.08	887% higher	Japan
Electricity Use (Per Capita)	7.7K kWh/person	829.77 kWh/person	823% higher	Japan
Water Withdrawal	79.7 B m³	8.7 B m³	821% higher	Japan
UNESCO World Heritage Sites	26 sites	3.0 sites	767% higher	Japan
Beer Consumption	1.1 L/person/yr	0.13 L/person/yr	699% higher	Japan
Mobile Subscriptions (%)	178.43 per 100 people	24 per 100 people	643% higher	Japan
Energy Use (Per Capita)	3.0K kg oil eq/person	640.51 kg oil eq/person	374% higher	Japan
Corruption Perceptions Index	71 pts	15 pts	373% higher	Japan
Population	123.20M	26.40M	367% higher	Japan
Seafood Consumption per Person	46.65 kg/person/yr	10.96 kg/person/yr	326% higher	Japan
Forest Area	249.3K km²	59.7K km²	318% higher	Japan
Railway Length	27.3K km	7.4K km	267% higher	Japan
Meat Consumption per Person	49.33 kg/person/yr	13.67 kg/person/yr	261% higher	Japan
Airports	279	80	249% higher	Japan
Teen Birth Rate	1.7 per 1k	0.51 per 1k	239% higher	Japan
CO2 Per Capita	7.8 t/person/yr	2.4 t/person/yr	229% higher	Japan
Land Area	364.6K km²	120.4K km²	203% higher	Japan
Women's Political Empowerment	0.84	0.29	191% higher	Japan
Elderly Population (%)	29.78%	12.4%	140% higher	Japan
Political Corruption Index	0.05	0.67	93% lower	North Korea
Infant Mortality	1.8 per 1k births	14.5 per 1k births	88% lower	North Korea
Child Mortality	2.4 per 1k births	18 per 1k births	87% lower	North Korea
Suicide Rate	17.43 per 100k	9.3 per 100k	87% higher	Japan
Capital Elevation	6.0 m	38 m	84% lower	North Korea
Armed Forces Personnel	261.0K	1.47M	82% lower	North Korea
Electricity Access (%)	100%	57.5%	74% higher	Japan
Insufficient Physical Activity	44.75% of adults	26.99% of adults	66% higher	Japan
Alcohol Consumption	6.4 L/adult/yr	3.9 L/adult/yr	65% higher	Japan
Spirits Consumption	1.1 L/person/yr	2.9 L/person/yr	62% lower	North Korea
Air Pollution (PM2.5)	12.84 µg/m³	29.93 µg/m³	57% lower	North Korea
Population Density	341.54 /km²	219.4 /km²	56% higher	Japan
Obesity Rate	4.9%	10.87%	55% lower	North Korea
Dependency Ratio	70.12% of working-age pop.	45.66% of working-age pop.	54% higher	Japan
Youth Unemployment Rate	3.9% of youth labor force	7.9% of youth labor force	51% lower	North Korea
Time Zones Count	3.0 time zones	2.0 time zones	50% higher	Japan
Official Languages Count	1.0	2.0	50% lower	North Korea
Safe Drinking Water (%)	98.73%	66.61%	48% higher	Japan
Birth Rate	6.8 per 1k	12.99 per 1k	47% lower	North Korea
Urban Population (%)	92.19%	63.86%	44% higher	Japan
Water Stress (%)	18.53%	12.92%	43% higher	Japan
Agricultural Land (%)	12.64%	21.55%	41% lower	North Korea
Renewable Energy (%)	8.8%	14.7%	40% lower	North Korea
Youth Population (%)	11.44%	18.95%	40% lower	North Korea
Electricity Carbon Intensity	477.26 gCO2/kWh	340.59 gCO2/kWh	40% higher	Japan
Forest Coverage (%)	68.4%	49.55%	38% higher	Japan
Highest Elevation	3.8K m	2.7K m	38% higher	Japan
Median Age	49.0 years	36.0 years	36% higher	Japan
Death Rate	12.04 per 1k	9.0 per 1k	34% higher	Japan
Food Waste per Person	80.57 kg/person/yr	122.73 kg/person/yr	34% lower	North Korea
Doctors (per 1,000)	2.6 per 1k	3.6 per 1k	27% lower	North Korea
Fertility Rate	1.4 children/woman	1.8 children/woman	22% lower	North Korea
Hypertension Prevalence	32% of adults	26.9% of adults	19% higher	Japan
Sanitation Access (%)	99.94%	84.82%	18% higher	Japan
Smoking Rate	19.2%	16.5%	16% higher	Japan
Life Expectancy	84.0 years	73.6 years	14% higher	Japan
Women in Parliament (%)	15.7%	17.61%	11% lower	North Korea
Tobacco Use Prevalence	17.1% of adults	15.6% of adults	10% higher	Japan
Unemployment Rate	2.6%	2.9%	10% lower	North Korea
Irrigated Land	15.7K km²	14.6K km²	8% higher	Japan
Coal Electricity Share	32.05%	34.06%	6% lower	North Korea
Wind Electricity Share	1.3%	0%	ranked higher	Japan
Nobel Laureates Born per Million People	0.24 per 1M people	0 per 1M people	ranked higher	Japan
Lowest Elevation	-4 m	0 m	ranked lower	North Korea
Land Border Length	0 km	1.6K km	ranked lower	North Korea
EV Chargers per 100,000 PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)	0.85 per 100k people	0 per 100k people	ranked higher	Japan
McDonald's Outlets per Million PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)	17.38 per 1M people	0 per 1M people	ranked higher	Japan
Border Neighbors	0	3.0	ranked lower	North Korea

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Japan North Korea

Analysis

Japan leads in 60 of 83 shared metrics, while North Korea leads in 23.

Japan's Air Passengers is 32602.2x that of North Korea (120.31M vs 3.7K).

Japan's Foreign Patents is 11123.7x that of North Korea (66.7K vs 6.0).

Japan's Scientific Publications is 392.6x that of North Korea (103.7K vs 263.49).

Japan's Freedom of Expression Index is 64.2x that of North Korea (0.85 vs 0.01).

Japan's Liberal Democracy Index is 51.4x that of North Korea (0.73 vs 0.01).

Key Comparisons

Air PassengersJapan leads

Japan

120.31M

North Korea

3.7K

Foreign PatentsJapan leads

Japan

66.7K

North Korea

6.0

Scientific PublicationsJapan leads

Japan

103.7K

North Korea

263.49

Freedom of Expression IndexJapan leads

Japan

0.85

North Korea

0.01

Liberal Democracy IndexJapan leads

Japan

0.73

North Korea

0.01

Electric Generating CapacityJapan leads

Japan

361.62M kW

North Korea

8.36M kW

Air Passengers

120.31M

3.7K

Foreign Patents

66.7K

6.0

Scientific Publications

103.7K

263.49

Freedom of Expression Index

0.85

0.01

Liberal Democracy Index

0.73

0.01

Electric Generating Capacity

361.62M kW

8.36M kW

Electricity Generation

1.0K TWh

26.55 TWh

Domestic Patents

222.5K

6.9K

Merchant Fleet Size

5.2K

264

Milk Consumption per Person

72.06 kg/person/yr

3.8 kg/person/yr

Solar Electricity Share

9.8%

0.63%

Total CO2 Emissions

972.27 Mt CO2e

66.24 Mt CO2e

All-Time Olympic Gold Medals

211 gold medals

16 gold medals

Protected Land (%)

29.5%

2.4%

Coastline Length

29.8K km

2.5K km

All-Time Olympic Medals

642 medals

63 medals

Electoral Democracy Index

0.82

0.08

Electricity Use (Per Capita)

7.7K kWh/person

829.77 kWh/person

Water Withdrawal

79.7 B m³

8.7 B m³

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

26 sites

3.0 sites

Japan vs North Korea

Think you can spot the next winner?

What matters for both sides

Japan

North Korea

Analysis

Key Comparisons

All Metrics

Air Passengers

Foreign Patents

Scientific Publications

Freedom of Expression Index

Liberal Democracy Index

Electric Generating Capacity

Electricity Generation

Domestic Patents

Merchant Fleet Size

Milk Consumption per Person

Solar Electricity Share

Total CO2 Emissions

All-Time Olympic Gold Medals

Protected Land (%)

Coastline Length

All-Time Olympic Medals

Electoral Democracy Index

Electricity Use (Per Capita)

Water Withdrawal

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Beer Consumption

Mobile Subscriptions (%)

Energy Use (Per Capita)

Corruption Perceptions Index

Population

Seafood Consumption per Person

Forest Area

Railway Length

Meat Consumption per Person

Airports

Teen Birth Rate

CO2 Per Capita

Land Area

Women's Political Empowerment

Elderly Population (%)

Political Corruption Index

Infant Mortality

Child Mortality

Suicide Rate

Capital Elevation

Armed Forces Personnel

Electricity Access (%)

Insufficient Physical Activity

Alcohol Consumption

Spirits Consumption

Air Pollution (PM2.5)

Population Density

Obesity Rate

Dependency Ratio

Youth Unemployment Rate

Time Zones Count

Official Languages Count

Safe Drinking Water (%)

Birth Rate

Urban Population (%)

Water Stress (%)

Agricultural Land (%)

Renewable Energy (%)

Youth Population (%)

Electricity Carbon Intensity

Forest Coverage (%)

Highest Elevation

Median Age

Death Rate

Food Waste per Person

Doctors (per 1,000)

Fertility Rate

Hypertension Prevalence

Sanitation Access (%)

Smoking Rate

Life Expectancy

Women in Parliament (%)