Number of elementary school students in Japan — Portal Site of Official Statistics of Japan website (https://www.e-stat.go.jp/). from Japan

Japan is showing notable disparities in education across its 50 regencies and cities, according to the latest figures released by Statistics Bureau of Japan, e-Stat. 1981 tops the provincial ranking with a reading of 11.82M (Number of elementary school students (Public)), while 2024 sits at the other end of the scale with 5.83M (Number of elementary school students (Public)). The findings, drawn from official 2026 data, offer a granular look at how this indicator plays out at the local level.

The gap between the top and bottom of the rankings stands at 5.99M — a ratio of roughly 2.0 to one between 1981 and 2024. Analysts describe such a spread as meaningful, reflecting how local conditions, demographics and policy implementation can produce highly varied outcomes across geographically proximate areas.

Summed across Japan, the figures produce an average of 8.25M per district and a combined total of 412.42M. The mean provides a useful yardstick: 1981's reading is 43.3% above that benchmark, while 2024 comes in 29.4% below it.

Set against Japan's national picture, the Japan figures reflect dynamics observed across much of the country: a concentration of higher readings in urbanised districts, and persistently lower values in less-densely populated or more remote areas. While the spread documented in the 2026 data is consistent with previous reporting cycles, the persistence of the gap underscores the difficulty of producing rapid convergence in education through standard policy levers alone.

The figures are compiled by Statistics Bureau of Japan, e-Stat as part of its routine reporting on social and economic indicators at the subnational level. The dataset for Japan covers all 50 of the province's regencies and cities, with values referenced to the 2026 reporting year.

Looking ahead, the 2026 readings establish a clear baseline for tracking how education evolves in Japan over the coming years. Closing the gap between the leading and trailing districts is widely seen as one of the more pressing tasks for both provincial authorities and the national agencies that allocate resources across Japan's subnational units.

Source: Statistics Bureau of Japan, e-Stat · 2026-06-22T09:06:07.278Z

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Number of elementary school students in Japan