The Nobel Prize is an annual, international prize first awarded in 1901 for achievements in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace. An associated prize in Economics has been awarded since 1969."Nobel Prize" (2007), in Encyclopædia Britannica, accessed 14 November 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: Nobel Prizes have been awarded to over 800 individuals.
Asians have been the recipients of all six award categories: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economics. The first Asian recipient, Rabindranath Tagore, was awarded the Literature Prize in 1913. In 1930, C. V. Raman became the first Asian recipient of a Nobel Prize in one of the sciences. The most Nobel Prizes awarded to Asians in a single year was in 2014, when five Asians became laureates. The most recent Asian laureates, Japanese scientists Shimon Sakaguchi and Susumu Kitagawa, and Jordanian-Palestinian scientist Omar M. Yaghi, were awarded their prize in 2025.
To date (2025), there have been sixty-seven Asian winners of the Nobel Prize, including thirty-two Japanese, fourteen Israeli, nine Indian (not including non-Indian Laureates born in India) and eight Chinese (not including non-Chinese Laureates born in China). The list does not include Russians.
Physics As of 2021, there are 21 Asians or Asian Americans who have won the Nobel Prize in Physics. Japanese comprise the majority, with 12 laureates. Year Image Laureate Country at the time of the award Category Comment1930Chandrasekhara Venkata RamanPhysicsFirst Asian and Indian Nobel laureate in Science1949Hideki YukawaPhysicsFirst Japanese Nobel laureate1957Chen Ning YangPhysicsFirst Chinese Nobel laureate1957Tsung-Dao LeePhysicsFirst Chinese Nobel laureate1965Shin'ichiro TomonagaPhysics1973Leo EsakiPhysics1976Samuel C. C. TingPhysicsDual-citizen of and Republic of China1979Abdus SalamPhysicsFirst Pakistani Nobel laureate1983Subrahmanyan ChandrasekharPhysicsBorn in 1997Steven ChuPhysicsBorn in United States1998Daniel C. TsuiPhysicsBorn in China2002Masatoshi KoshibaPhysics2008Yoichiro NambuPhysicsBorn in 2008Makoto KobayashiPhysics2008Toshihide MaskawaPhysics2009Charles K. Kao and PhysicsFirst Hong Kong citizenship Nobel laureate2014Isamu AkasakiPhysics2014Hiroshi AmanoPhysics2014Shuji NakamuraPhysicsBorn in 2015Takaaki KajitaPhysics2021Syukuro ManabePhysicsBorn in
Chemistry As of 2025, there are 22 Asians or Asian Americans who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with the Japanese comprising the most with 10 laureates. Year Image Laureate Country at the time of the award Category Comment1981Kenichi FukuiChemistry First Asian and Japanese Nobel laureate in Chemistry1986Yuan T. Lee and ChemistryFirst Taiwanese Nobel laureate1987Charles J. PedersenChemistryJapanese mother; born in Korea 2000Hideki ShirakawaChemistry2001Ryōji NoyoriChemistry2002Koichi TanakaChemistry2004Aaron CiechanoverChemistry2004Avram HershkoChemistry2008Osamu ShimomuraChemistry2008Roger Y. TsienChemistryBorn in United States2009Venki Ramakrishnan and ChemistryBorn in India2009Ada YonathChemistry2010Ei-ichi NegishiChemistry2010Akira SuzukiChemistry2011Dan ShechtmanChemistry2013Arieh Warshel and Chemistry2013Michael Levitt, and Chemistry2015Aziz Sancar and ChemistryFirst Turkish Nobel laureate in science2019Akira YoshinoChemistry2024Demis HassabisChemistrySingaporean mother2025Susumu KitagawaChemistry2025Omar M. YaghiChemistryFrom a Palestinian family2026Kensō SoaiChemistry
Physiology or Medicine As of 2025, there are 8 Asians who won Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, with the Japanese comprising the most with 6 laureates. Year Image Laureate Country at the time of the award Category Comment1968Har Gobind KhoranaPhysiology or MedicineFirst Asian and Indian Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine. Born in India1987Susumu TonegawaPhysiology or MedicineFirst Japanese Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine2012Shinya YamanakaPhysiology or MedicineFirst Nobel Medicine Laureate to achieve rewarded results in Asia2015Satoshi ŌmuraPhysiology or Medicine2015Tu YouyouPhysiology or MedicineFirst Chinese woman Nobel laureate2016Yoshinori OhsumiPhysiology or Medicine2018Tasuku HonjoPhysiology or Medicine2025Shimon SakaguchiPhysiology or Medicine
Literature As of 2024, there are 10 Asians who won Nobel Prize in Literature, with the Japanese comprising the most with 3 laureates. Year Image Laureate Country at the time of the award Category Comment1913Rabindranath TagoreLiteratureFirst Asian and Indian Nobel laureate1966Shmuel Yosef AgnonLiteratureFirst Israeli Nobel laureate1968Yasunari KawabataLiterature1994Kenzaburō ŌeLiterature2000Gao XingjianLiteratureBorn in China2001V. S. NaipaulLiteratureIndian origin. Born in Trinidad and Tobago. 2006Orhan PamukLiteratureFirst Turkish Nobel laureate2012Mo YanLiterature2017Kazuo IshiguroLiteratureBorn in Japan2024Han KangLiteratureFirst Asian female Nobel laureate in Literature
Peace As of 2024, there are 23 Asians who won Nobel Peace Prize, with the Israeli and Indian comprising the most with 3 laureates. Year Image Laureate Country at the time of the award Category Comment1973Lê Đức Thọ(declined award)PeaceFirst Asian and Vietnamese Nobel laureate in Peace1974Eisaku SatōPeace1978Menachem BeginPeace1979Mother TeresaPeaceFirst Asian woman Nobel laureate1989Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, and PeaceFirst Tibetan Nobel laureate1991Aung San Suu Kyi BurmaPeaceFirst Myanmar Nobel laureate1994Yasser ArafatPeaceFirst Palestinian Arab in Nobel laureate1994Shimon PeresPeace1994Yitzhak RabinPeace1996Carlos Filipe Ximenes BeloPeace First Timorese Nobel laureate1996José Ramos-HortaPeace First Timorese Nobel laureate2000Kim Dae-jungPeaceFirst Korean Nobel laureate 2003Shirin EbadiPeaceFirst Iranian Nobel laureate2006Muhammad YunusPeaceFirst Bangladeshi Nobel laureate in Peace2010Liu XiaoboPeaceFirst Asian Nobel laureate in prison2011Tawakkul KarmanPeaceFirst Arab Woman and First Yemeni Nobel laureate2014Kailash SatyarthiPeace2014Malala YousafzaiPeaceFirst Pakistani Woman Nobel laureate and youngest Nobel laureate2018 Nadia Murad PeaceFirst Iraqi Nobel laureate2021 Maria Ressa PeaceFirst Filipino Nobel laureate2023 Narges Mohammadi PeaceSecond Iranian Nobel laureate and awarded while in prison2024 Nihon Hidankyo Peace
Economics As of 2025, seven Asians have won the Nobel Prize in Economics. Year Image Laureate Country at the time of the award Category Comment1998Amartya SenEconomicsFirst Asian and Indian Nobel laureate in Economics.2002Daniel Kahneman and Economics2005Robert Aumann and Economics2019Abhijit BanerjeeEconomicsBorn in India, later settled in US2021Joshua Angrist and Economics2024Daron Acemoglu and Economics2025Joel Mokyr, and Economics
Non-Asian born Laureates of Asian descent
Non-Asian Laureates born in Asia
See also List of Filipino Nobel laureates and nominees List of Nobel laureates by South Asian country
References