Governance at a glance
- Government
- Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
- UN member
- Yes
- Independent
- Yes
- CPI score (2026)
- 71/100
- Press freedom (2025)
- 63.1/100 #66
- Electoral democracy (2025)
- 0.819
- HDI
- 0.925
Government and leaders
- Government type
- Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
| Title | Name |
|---|---|
| Emperor of Japan | Naruhito |
| Prime Minister of Japan | Sanae Takaichi |
Safety and security
- Homicide rate (2023)
- 0.2/100k
- Traffic deaths (2019)
- 3.6/100k
- Military spending (2024)
- 1.4% of GDP
World governance indicators
Percentile rank among all countries
Political stability (2023)
82th pct
Rule of law (2023)
92th pct
Corruption control (2023)
90th pct
Government effectiveness (2023)
97th pct
Regulatory quality (2023)
92th pct
Voice and accountability (2023)
85th pct
Corruption perceptions index
- CPI score (2026)
- 71 / 100
- Interpretation
- Low corruption
Democracy index
- Electoral (2025)
- 0.819
- Liberal
- 0.734
- Participatory
- 0.526
- Deliberative
- 0.729
- Egalitarian
- 0.758
Press freedom index
- Overall score (2025)
- 63.1 / 100
- Global rank
- #66 / 180
- Rank change
- +4 vs previous year
- RSF zone
- Asie-Pacifique
- Political #59
- 55.2
- Economic #45
- 53.5
- Legal #69
- 67.2
- Social #112
- 54.4
- Safety #68
- 85.4
Press freedom historical data
| Year | Score | Rank | Political | Economic | Legal | Social | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 63.1 | 66 | 55.2 | 53.5 | 67.2 | 54.4 | 85.4 |
| 2024 | 62.1 | 70 | 53.1 | 55.8 | 64.4 | 54.4 | 83.0 |
| 2023 | 64.0 | 68 | 55.8 | 56.3 | 66.4 | 59.3 | 82.0 |
| 2022 | 64.4 | 71 | 54.7 | 53.7 | 66.2 | 67.1 | 80.2 |
| 2021 | 71.1 | 67 | - | - | - | - | 100.0 |
| 2020 | 71.1 | 66 | - | - | - | - | 100.0 |
| 2019 | 70.6 | 67 | - | - | - | - | 100.0 |
| 2018 | 71.4 | 67 | - | - | - | - | 100.0 |
| 2017 | 70.6 | 72 | - | - | - | - | 100.0 |
| 2016 | 71.3 | 72 | - | - | - | - | 100.0 |
| 2015 | 73.1 | 61 | - | - | - | - | 100.0 |
| 2014 | 74.0 | 59 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2013 | 74.8 | 53 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2012 | -1.0 | 22 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2010 | 2.5 | 12 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2009 | 3.3 | 17 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2008 | 6.5 | 29 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2007 | 11.8 | 37 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2006 | 12.5 | 51 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2005 | 8.0 | 37 | - | - | - | - | - |