Japan vs Vietnam

Japan cost of livingJapanVietnam cost of livingVietnam
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Japan runs 104.2 men per 100 women aged 20โ€“39 against 100.4 in Vietnam. Visa-free entry is 90 days against 90. On the 15 measures both countries carry, Japan leads 5.

The difference at a glance

Green favours Vietnam. Country figures. Cities inside one country differ, often by more than the countries differ from each other.

Head to head

Each row is named for the thing more of which is better, so a longer bar always wins.

JapanVietnam
104.2More women 20โ€“39men per 100 women, national census100.4
90Longer visa-free staydays, typical Western passport90
45%Lower income taxtop personal rate, not an effective rate35%
446More English spokenadult proficiency score500
0.2Saferhomicides per 100,000 a year1.5
84.0Longer life expectancyyears at birth74.7
$55,422RicherGDP per capita, current USD$18,088
85/100More politically stable0 to 10066/100
75/100Less corruption0 to 10043/100

Longer is better. Bar length is the rank among all countries we hold that measure for, not a share of the pair.

Every country measure, side by side

National figures throughout. What a city inside either country costs, and how its own sex ratio runs, is the table below this one.

National men per 100 womenthe city figure is above104.2100.43.8
Visa-free entrylongest headline entry for a typical Western passport90900 days
Top personal income tax rateheadline rate, not an effective rate45%35%10 points
English proficiencyadult proficiency score44650054 points
Homicide rateper 100,000 per year0.21.51.3
Life expectancyyears at birth84.074.79.3 years
GDP per capitacurrent USD$55,422$18,0883.06ร— as much
Female labour force participationno direction is asserted56%69%โ€”
Fertility ratebirths per woman1.151.90โ€”
Obesity, womenage-standardised3.7%2.4%1.3 points
Mean height, womenadults158 cm / 5โ€ฒ2โ€ณ158 cm / 5โ€ฒ2โ€ณโ€”
Political stability0 to 100, higher is more stable85/10066/10019 points
Low corruption0 to 100, higher is cleaner75/10043/10032 points
Digital nomad visamax stay; headline route, not a guarantee6 monthsn/aโ€”
Never-married women, 20โ€“39census or survey, years differ between countries52.8%19.7%โ€”
Main languagethe city may differJapaneseVietnameseโ€”

Data updated August 6, 2026.

Sex ratio by age

Men per 100 women in each five-year band, with 100 as parity. National census age×sex tables, which is the one figure on this page no cost-of-living site holds.

JapanVietnam80901001101201520253035404550556065age band, lower boundmen per 100 women

Every city we track in both

A national sex ratio is an average of places that do not resemble each other. These are the cities behind it.

Japan

CityMen/100 womenEssentials
Kobemunicipality level84.2$1,167
Fukuokacity level90.2$883
Sapporocity level92.8$968
Osakacity level95.6$995
Kyotocity level96.1$879
Hiroshimacity level97.8
Sendaicity level98.0$886
Tokyocity level99.8$1,306
Nagoyacity level102.9$940
Yokohamacity level103.6$988

Vietnam

CityMen/100 womenEssentials
Hanoiprovince level94.3$528
Ho Chi Minh Cityprovince level98.2$532
Hai Phongprovince level101.4$438
Da Nangprovince level101.9$583
Can Thoprovince level104.9$307
Nha Trangprovince level105.9$511
Da Latprovince level110.0$495

Japan spans 19.4 points across its 10 tracked cities, Vietnam 15.7 across 7. The national figure is the average of neither.

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