Japanese people’s salt intake is the lowest in 12 years | 2024 National Health and Nutrition Survey

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare the results of the 2024 “National Health and Nutrition Survey” has published (published: December 2, 2025).

This survey was conducted from October to November 2024, an expanded survey conducted once every 4 years it is. It is also intended to obtain baseline values for Japan’s national health policy, “Health Japan 21 (the third term).”

Let us line up a few numbers as they are.

Salt: 9.6g

The average salt intake was 9.6g, the lowest figure in the past 12 years.

It has indeed gone down. This is one of the clearest changes in this survey.

However, The target value in “Health Japan 21 (the third term)” is 7g. There is still a gap.

What matters when looking at data is that “it has improved” and “it is sufficient” are different things.

Smoking: 14.8%

The percentage of people who habitually smoke is 14.8%. In the past 12 years, this is tied with the 2022 survey for the lowest value.

One and a half people out of 10. How to take this number depends on the person, but it is certain that it has continued to decline over the long term in total.

Diabetes: about 11 million people

Here, the direction is not only positive.

• “People strongly suspected of having diabetes” numbered about 11 million (continuing to increase)
• “People for whom the possibility of diabetes cannot be ruled out” numbered about 7 million (continuing to decrease)

The strongly suspected group is increasing, while the gray zone is decreasing. This is a movement that cannot be separated from the aging of the population.

Sleep: 79.6%

During the past 1 month, 79.6% of people answered that they were getting sufficient rest through sleep (men 80.4%, women 78.9%).

In other words, 1 in 5 people “are not getting enough” that is how they feel.

Another value of this survey

The 2024 survey is an expanded survey that captures conditions by prefecture.

Things that cannot be seen by looking only at the national average become visible when viewed by region. In writing this series, VILLAGE Report I have felt the same thing many times.

An average is the image of a person who does not exist anywhere.

Reference: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Results of the 2024 National Health and Nutrition Survey” (published December 2, 2025)

※This article introduces statistical and institutional information published by public institutions and is not intended for the diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of any specific disease. If you have health concerns, please consult a medical institution.

—The Value Village Editorial Team