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Other management, finance and insurance professionals

How to become an Actuary

Also called: Insurance actuary, Pension actuary

Works as a mathematics professional, using methods such as probability and statistics to deal with uncertain events, mainly in insurance and pensions.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say a master's degree or university is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

To do this job, people usually learn mathematical skills such as probability and statistics, join a life or non-life insurer, trust bank or government body, and build experience in insurance and pension actuarial work. Only full fellows of the Institute of Actuaries of Japan can work as appointed insurance actuaries or pension actuaries, so passing the institute's actuarial exams is in practice essential. To become a full fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Japan, you must pass its actuarial exams, open to people aged 18 or over at the end of March of the previous year (the first exams cover five basic subjects and the second exams two specialist subjects), and complete professionalism training and specialist area training (initial education). Only once you are a full fellow are you seen as fully qualified, which is said to take about seven years. According to the institute it has 5,721 members, of whom 364 are women, a number that is growing. Some universities now run preparation courses for students who want to attempt the actuarial exams while still studying. Because the work is so specialised, almost all job changes are within the same industry, but few people leave or change jobs, and almost none set up on their own. Mathematical and statistical ability goes without saying, but you also need the persistence to keep up with changes to laws and accounting standards, the cooperation to work as a team with sales staff who deal with clients, and the communication skills to explain insurance and pensions, which are full of technical terms, in plain language. As more insurers expand overseas, English is said to be increasingly needed.

Ways in

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Questions people ask

How do I become an Actuary?

To do this job, people usually learn mathematical skills such as probability and statistics, join a life or non-life insurer, trust bank or government body, and build experience in insurance and pension actuarial work. Only full fellows of the Institute of Actuaries of Japan can work as appointed insurance actuaries or pension actuaries, so passing the institute's actuarial exams is in practice essential. To become a full fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Japan, you must pass its actuarial exams, open to people aged 18 or over at the end of March of the previous year (the first exams cover five basic subjects and the second exams two specialist subjects), and complete professionalism training and specialist area training (initial education). Only once you are a full fellow are you seen as fully qualified, which is said to take about seven years. According to the institute it has 5,721 members, of whom 364 are women, a number that is growing. Some universities now run preparation courses for students who want to attempt the actuarial exams while still studying. Because the work is so specialised, almost all job changes are within the same industry, but few people leave or change jobs, and almost none set up on their own. Mathematical and statistical ability goes without saying, but you also need the persistence to keep up with changes to laws and accounting standards, the cooperation to work as a team with sales staff who deal with clients, and the communication skills to explain insurance and pensions, which are full of technical terms, in plain language. As more insurers expand overseas, English is said to be increasingly needed.

How much does an Actuary earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥11,346,400 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Other management, finance and insurance professionals, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become an Actuary?

Usually. In this job's census occupation group, 83% of workers are university graduates.

Will AI change the work of an Actuary?

Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026