Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Japan instead of Macau, you would:

Economy

make 52.6% less money

Macau has a GDP per capita of $75,902 as of 2025, while in Japan, the GDP per capita is $35,951 as of 2025.

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Life

be 60.8% less likely to die during infancy

In Macau, approximately 4.6 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Japan, on the other hand, 1.8 children do as of 2024.

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Geography

see 725.6 times more coastline

Macau has a total of 41 km of coastline. In Japan, that number is 29,751 km.

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Safety

be 58.9% less likely to be murdered

Macau has a homicide rate of 0.6 per 100,000 people as of 2023. In Japan, that number is 0.2 per 100,000 as of 2023.

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Infrastructure

find 29.4% more home broadband

Macau has 29.9 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Japan has 38.6 as of 2023.

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Environment

emit 3.1 times more CO2

Macau emits 2.5 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Japan emits 7.8 tonnes as of 2024.

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Sources: World Bank (2023–2025), The World Factbook (2022). How we calculate this

Compare further: Macau vs. Japan

Cost of Living Comparison · 7 categories - 2026 data
Japan is 30.4% cheaper than Macau overall
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Macau is about 13,401 times smaller than Japan.
→
Moving from Macau to Japan · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
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Japan: At a glance

Japan is a sovereign country in East/Southeast Asia, with a total land area of approximately 364,485 sq km. In 1603, after decades of civil warfare, the Tokugawa shogunate (a military-led, dynastic government) ushered in a long period of relative political stability and isolation from foreign influence. For more than two centuries this policy enabled Japan to enjoy a flowering of its indigenous culture. Japan opened its ports after signing the Treaty of Kanagawa with the US in 1854 and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became a regional power that was able to defeat the forces of both China and Russia. It occupied Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and southern Sakhalin Island. In 1931-32 Japan occupied Manchuria, and in 1937 it launched a full-scale invasion of China. Japan attacked US forces in 1941 - triggering America's entry into World War II - and soon occupied much of East and Southeast Asia. After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and an ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, elected politicians hold actual decision-making power. Following three decades of unprecedented growth, Japan's economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s, but the country remains a major economic power. In March 2011, Japan's strongest-ever earthquake, and an accompanying tsunami, devastated the northeast part of Honshu island, killing thousands and damaging several nuclear power plants. The catastrophe hobbled the country's economy and its energy infrastructure, and tested its ability to deal with humanitarian disasters.
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How big is Japan compared to Macau? See an in-depth size comparison.

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