GDP per capita vs GDP per working age population: United States vs. Japan

GDP per capita vs GDP per working age population: United States vs. Japan

By only looking at GDP per capita one may easily miss the fact that Japan’s working-age population has been declining since the late 1990s.

The following chart from the BIS shows GDP per actual working age population, and suddenly Japan doesn't look that bad anymore. It surpassed the United States in the early 2000s and the gap has increased ever since!

GDP per capita vs GDP per working age population, United States vs. Japan
1980 - 2015

Click on the chart for a larger view

The costs of deflation: a historical perspective, BIS Quarterly Review, March 2015

08.09.2015

GDP per capita vs GDP per working age population, United States vs. Japan1980 - 2015

GDP per capita vs GDP per working age population, United States vs. Japan
1980 - 2015