Share of primary school teachers who are women in Japan
Japan: Share of primary school teachers who are women was 70.4% in 1998. ▲ Rising
Share of primary school teachers who are women in Japan, 1971–1998
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of primary school teachers who are women in Japan is 70.4%, measured in 1998. That is the highest value across all 28 years on record.
That represents a change of up 14.2% on the previous year and up 24.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of primary school teachers who are women in Japan peaked at 70.4% in 1998 and was at its lowest, 52.1%, in 1972.
That places Japan 137th out of 212 countries with data for 1998, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 28 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 55.0% | 52.1% | 58.5% | 9 |
| 1980s | 56.4% | 56.0% | 56.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 60.9% | 57.6% | 70.4% | 9 |
Countries ranked near Japan
More education data for Japan
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 58.8% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 11.2% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 101.1% (2023)
- Primary education, teachers 440,864 (2023)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.22 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 101.1% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of primary school teachers who are women in Japan?
- Share of primary school teachers who are women in Japan was 70.4% in 1998, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of primary school teachers who are women recorded in Japan?
- The highest recorded value was 70.4% in 1998.
- What is the lowest share of primary school teachers who are women recorded in Japan?
- The lowest recorded value was 52.1% in 1972.
- How does Japan rank for share of primary school teachers who are women?
- Japan ranks 137th out of 212 countries with data for 1998.
- Is share of primary school teachers who are women rising or falling in Japan?
- Over the last ten years it is up 24.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Japan data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of primary school teachers who are women. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
Percentage of female teachers among all teachers at the primary education level during a given school year.