World population

Nine billion people by 2050?

The world's population is growing at a startling rate. These figures show the number of people in each country on the globe
• These are the 2006 estimates. World population by country: get the latest data
WORLD-POPULATION-GRAPHIC2

How many people live in each country in the world - and how is the world's population growing?

The best source on earth for the answer is the United Nations population division and this comprehensive set of data shows estimates for the populations of every country in the world, going from 1950 all the way up to 2050.

It shows that the developed world will shrink and the developing world will grow. These are the figures compared, courtesy of Timetric:

Click on the line to get the number for that year

Showing these by percentage change over the whole period - giving you the fastest growing countries globally - could be an interesting visualisation. Robin McKie writes that Britain will become one of the world's 'lifeboats' as resources get scarce as the world's population increases.

And, at the end of last year, Africa got its billionth citizen:

Climbing from 110 million in 1850, Africa's headcount reached this threshold in 2009, according to the United Nations, although patchy census data in many countries means that no one can say where or when.

These are the latest figures - what can you do with them?

Download the data


• DATA: World populations by country - up to 2050

World government data

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Data summary

Total population by country

Click heading to sort, both sexes combined, as of 1 July (000s)
ID
Country/region
Pop 2009
Pop 2050
% change, 1950-2009
% projected change, 2009-2050
% change, 1950-2050

SOURCE: UN Pop Division
1 WORLD 6,829,360 9,149,984 170.01 33.98 261.75
2 More developed regions 1,233,282 1,275,243 51.88 3.40 57.04
3 Less developed regions 5,596,079 7,874,742 225.86 40.72 358.55
4 Least developed countries 835,486 1,672,414 316.78 100.17 734.29
5 Less developed regions, excluding least developed countries 4,760,593 6,202,328 213.85 30.28 308.89
6 Less developed regions, excluding China 4,242,768 6,448,481 262.57 51.99 451.06
7 Sub-Saharan Africa 842,801 1,753,272 359.35 108.03 855.58
8 AFRICA 1,009,893 1,998,466 344.36 97.89 779.34
9 Eastern Africa 318,758 711,430 391.55 123.19 997.08
10 Burundi 8,303 14,846 238.04 78.80 504.42
11 Comoros 676 1,226 332.43 81.37 684.32
12 Djibouti 864 1,469 1,293.85 69.99 2,269.48
13 Eritrea 5,073 10,787 344.52 112.62 845.12
14 Ethiopia 82,825 173,811 349.31 109.85 842.89
15 Kenya 39,802 85,410 554.99 114.59 1,305.51
16 Madagascar 19,625 42,693 380.59 117.54 945.48
17 Malawi 15,263 36,575 429.85 139.63 1,169.67
18 Mauritius 1,288 1,426 161.17 10.68 189.06
19 Mayotte 194 386 1,182.34 98.94 2,451.06
20 Mozambique 22,894 44,148 255.38 92.84 585.31
21 Réunion 827 1,096 233.29 32.50 341.62
22 Rwanda 9,998 22,082 362.36 120.87 921.20
23 Seychelles 84 97 131.95 14.65 165.94
24 Somalia 9,133 23,522 303.39 157.55 938.93
25 Uganda 32,710 91,271 534.13 179.03 1,669.44
26 Tanzania 43,739 109,450 471.77 150.23 1,330.76
27 Zambia 12,935 28,957 452.71 123.86 1,137.28
28 Zimbabwe 12,523 22,178 355.90 77.10 707.39
29 Middle Africa 125,665 272,969 381.18 117.22 945.22
30 Angola 18,498 42,267 345.99 128.50 919.10
31 Cameroon 19,522 36,736 337.07 88.18 722.48
32 Central African Republic 4,422 7,603 233.35 71.91 473.08
33 Chad 11,206 27,776 361.27 147.87 1,043.32
34 Congo 3,683 6,863 355.99 86.34 749.71
35 Congo, Dem Rep 66,020 147,512 441.88 123.43 1,110.73
36 Equatorial Guinea 676 1,445 199.85 113.67 540.69
37 Gabon 1,475 2,471 214.41 67.60 426.94
38 Sao Tome and Principe 163 296 171.26 81.68 392.82
39 Northern Africa 209,365 321,077 295.16 53.36 506.01
40 Algeria 34,895 49,610 298.67 42.17 466.78
41 Egypt 82,999 129,533 285.79 56.07 502.09
42 Libya 6,420 9,818 523.89 52.94 854.17
43 Morocco 31,993 42,583 257.34 33.10 375.63
44 Sudan 42,272 75,884 359.98 79.51 725.72
45 Tunisia 10,272 12,711 191.01 23.75 260.12
46 Western Sahara 513 938 3,628.07 82.79 6,714.69
47 Southern Africa 57,483 67,388 268.76 17.23 332.31
48 Botswana 1,950 2,758 372.64 41.46 568.61
49 Lesotho 2,067 2,491 181.62 20.53 239.45
50 Namibia 2,171 3,588 347.40 65.27 639.41
51 South Africa 50,110 56,802 266.22 13.35 315.12
52 Swaziland 1,185 1,749 334.04 47.57 540.54
53 Western Africa 298,623 625,601 340.86 109.50 823.58
54 Benin 8,935 21,982 335.81 146.02 972.17
55 Burkina Faso 15,757 40,830 286.16 159.12 900.62
56 Cape Verde 506 703 245.99 38.95 380.74
57 Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) 21,075 43,373 741.36 105.80 1,631.55
58 Gambia 1,705 3,763 559.78 120.66 1,355.83
59 Ghana 23,837 45,213 378.58 89.68 807.74
60 Guinea 10,069 23,975 284.46 138.11 815.45
61 Guinea-Bissau 1,611 3,555 210.85 120.70 586.05
62 Liberia 3,955 8,841 380.03 123.54 973.04
63 Mali 13,010 28,260 204.86 117.22 562.20
64 Mauritania 3,291 6,061 405.72 84.19 831.50
65 Niger 15,290 58,216 521.11 280.74 2,264.83
66 Nigeria 154,729 289,083 321.83 86.83 688.12
67 Saint Helena 4 5 -10.34 5.50 -5.41
68 Senegal 12,534 26,102 418.74 108.24 980.24
69 Sierra Leone 5,696 12,446 193.03 118.48 540.21
70 Togo 6,619 13,196 398.01 99.38 892.91
71 ASIA 4,121,097 5,231,485 193.76 26.94 272.91
72 Eastern Asia 1,555,377 1,600,005 135.79 2.87 142.55
73 China 1,345,751 1,417,045 146.95 5.30 160.03
74 China, Hong Kong SAR 7,022 8,623 255.73 22.80 336.83
75 China, Macao SAR 538 593 182.48 10.27 211.49
76 North Korea 23,906 24,562 145.52 2.75 152.26
77 Japan 127,156 101,659 53.53 -20.05 22.74
78 Mongolia 2,671 3,446 250.84 29.01 352.61
79 South Korea 48,333 44,077 151.58 -8.81 129.43
80 South-Central Asia 1,754,622 2,493,681 240.17 42.12 383.45
81 Afghanistan 28,150 73,938 245.34 162.66 807.06
82 Bangladesh 162,221 222,495 272.11 37.16 410.37
83 Bhutan 697 1,013 314.15 45.22 501.45
84 India 1,198,003 1,613,800 222.17 34.71 333.98
85 Iran 74,196 96,975 338.69 30.70 473.38
86 Kazakhstan 15,637 17,848 133.28 14.14 166.27
87 Kyrgyzstan 5,482 6,882 215.07 25.53 295.50
88 Maldives 309 455 277.36 47.11 455.13
89 Nepal 29,331 49,028 260.94 67.16 503.34
90 Pakistan 180,808 335,195 339.10 85.39 714.03
91 Sri Lanka 20,238 21,705 145.58 7.25 163.40
92 Tajikistan 6,952 11,111 353.95 59.83 625.53
93 Turkmenistan 5,110 6,796 321.96 32.99 461.15
94 Uzbekistan 27,488 36,439 335.35 32.56 477.12
95 South-Eastern Asia 582,664 765,966 231.24 31.46 335.44
96 Brunei 400 658 732.66 64.51 1,269.78
97 Cambodia 14,805 23,795 240.68 60.72 447.55
98 Indonesia 229,965 288,110 198.07 25.28 273.43
99 Lao People's Democratic Republic 6,320 10,744 279.32 69.99 544.81
100 Malaysia 27,468 39,664 349.56 44.40 549.18
101 Burma 50,020 63,373 191.53 26.70 269.36
102 Philippines 91,983 146,156 360.00 58.89 630.92
103 Singapore 4,737 5,221 363.45 10.23 410.86
104 Thailand 67,764 73,361 228.83 8.26 255.99
105 Timor-Leste 1,134 3,217 161.56 183.76 642.19
106 Viet Nam 88,069 111,666 221.81 26.79 308.03
107 Western Asia 228,433 371,833 343.35 62.78 621.67
108 Armenia 3,083 3,018 127.78 -2.12 122.95
109 Azerbaijan 8,832 10,579 204.98 19.78 265.29
110 Bahrain 791 1,277 584.59 61.35 1,004.58
111 Cyprus 871 1,175 76.32 34.93 137.90
112 Georgia 4,260 3,267 20.79 -23.31 -7.37
113 Iraq 30,747 63,995 437.62 108.13 1,018.95
114 Israel 7,170 10,649 469.93 48.53 746.53
115 Jordan 6,316 10,241 1,236.84 62.13 2,067.37
116 Kuwait 2,985 5,240 1,860.62 75.54 3,341.72
117 Lebanon 4,224 5,033 192.73 19.17 248.85
118 Occupied Palestinian Territory 4,277 10,265 325.69 139.98 921.56
119 Oman 2,845 4,878 523.42 71.42 968.67
120 Qatar 1,409 2,316 5,537.69 64.36 9,165.95
121 Saudi Arabia 25,721 43,658 703.43 69.74 1,263.73
122 Syria 21,906 36,911 519.50 68.49 943.83
123 Turkey 74,816 97,389 248.24 30.17 353.31
124 United Arab Emirates 4,599 8,253 6,508.23 79.47 11,759.97
125 Yemen 23,580 53,689 446.34 127.69 1,143.96
126 EUROPE 732,206 691,048 33.75 -5.62 26.23
127 Eastern Europe 292,479 239,961 32.83 -17.96 8.97
128 Belarus 9,634 7,275 24.38 -24.48 -6.07
129 Bulgaria 7,545 5,392 4.05 -28.53 -25.64
130 Czech Republic 10,369 10,294 16.18 -0.72 15.34
131 Hungary 9,993 8,934 7.01 -10.59 -4.33
132 Poland 38,074 32,013 53.37 -15.92 28.96
133 Moldova 3,604 2,734 53.93 -24.13 16.78
134 Romania 21,275 17,279 30.43 -18.78 5.93
135 Russia 140,874 116,097 37.17 -17.59 13.04
136 Slovakia 5,406 4,917 56.08 -9.04 41.97
137 Ukraine 45,708 35,026 22.55 -23.37 -6.09
138 Northern Europe 98,417 112,524 26.03 14.33 44.09
139 Channel Islands 150 144 46.57 -3.97 40.75
140 Denmark 5,470 5,551 28.08 1.48 29.98
141 Estonia 1,340 1,233 21.73 -7.99 12.00
142 Faeroe Islands 50 58 58.34 16.89 85.08
143 Finland 5,326 5,445 32.84 2.23 35.81
144 Iceland 323 407 125.66 26.12 184.59
145 Ireland 4,515 6,295 52.09 39.40 112.01
146 Isle of Man 80 75 45.68 -6.33 36.46
147 Latvia 2,249 1,854 15.41 -17.56 -4.86
148 Lithuania 3,287 2,579 28.01 -21.54 0.44
149 Norway 4,812 5,947 47.39 23.57 82.13
150 Sweden 9,249 10,571 31.87 14.29 50.71
151 United Kingdom 61,565 72,365 21.63 17.54 42.97
152 Southern Europe 153,074 153,654 41.40 0.38 41.93
153 Albania 3,155 3,303 159.69 4.69 171.87
154 Andorra 86 137 1,279.78 60.74 2,117.88
155 Bosnia and Herzegovina 3,767 3,008 41.53 -20.14 13.03
156 Croatia 4,416 3,825 14.70 -13.38 -0.65
157 Gibraltar 31 30 51.45 -3.57 46.05
158 Greece 11,161 10,939 47.52 -1.99 44.58
159 Holy See (Vat City) 1 1 -13.37 -2.30 -15.36
160 Italy 59,870 57,066 29.12 -4.68 23.08
161 Malta 409 413 31.00 1.10 32.45
162 Montenegro 624 618 56.63 -0.93 55.16
163 Portugal 10,707 10,015 27.39 -6.46 19.16
164 San Marino 31 33 145.35 5.16 158.01
165 Serbia 9,850 9,193 46.31 -6.67 36.56
166 Slovenia 2,020 1,954 37.13 -3.26 32.67
167 Spain 44,904 51,260 60.32 14.16 83.02
168 TFYR Macedonia 2,042 1,857 66.10 -9.09 51.00
169 Western Europe 188,235 184,908 33.59 -1.77 31.23
170 Austria 8,364 8,515 20.58 1.81 22.76
171 Belgium 10,647 11,493 23.39 7.94 33.19
172 France 62,343 67,668 49.03 8.54 61.76
173 Germany 82,167 70,504 20.17 -14.19 3.11
174 Liechtenstein 36 45 161.04 24.72 225.57
175 Luxembourg 486 733 64.25 50.83 147.74
176 Monaco 33 38 64.06 14.81 88.35
177 Netherlands 16,592 17,399 64.05 4.86 72.03
178 Switzerland 7,568 8,514 61.27 12.50 81.43
179 LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 582,418 729,184 248.11 25.20 335.84
180 Caribbean 41,972 49,491 145.00 17.91 188.89
181 Anguilla 15 20 195.94 29.03 281.86
182 Antigua and Barbuda 88 112 89.20 28.22 142.59
183 Aruba 107 106 179.84 -0.07 179.65
184 Bahamas 342 455 332.07 33.13 475.19
185 Barbados 256 237 21.27 -7.34 12.37
186 British Virgin Islands 23 28 209.62 20.23 272.26
187 Cayman Islands 56 66 750.03 18.27 905.33
188 Cuba 11,204 9,725 89.26 -13.20 64.27
189 Dominica 67 66 30.40 -0.42 29.85
190 Dominican Republic 10,090 13,441 315.73 33.21 453.81
191 Grenada 104 97 35.54 -6.73 26.42
192 Guadeloupe 465 477 121.61 2.42 126.98
193 Haiti 10,033 15,485 211.45 54.34 380.70
194 Jamaica 2,719 2,683 93.80 -1.33 91.23
195 Martinique 405 393 82.31 -3.02 76.81
196 Montserrat 6 7 -56.19 18.03 -48.29
197 Netherlands Antilles 198 192 77.44 -3.03 72.07
198 Puerto Rico 3,982 4,103 79.51 3.04 84.97
199 Saint Kitts and Nevis 52 69 12.29 34.08 50.57
200 Saint Lucia 172 217 108.00 26.04 162.17
201 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 109 119 63.00 8.53 76.90
202 Trinidad and Tobago 1,339 1,278 110.47 -4.51 100.98
203 Turks and Caicos Islands 33 40 549.65 23.49 702.28
204 United States Virgin Islands 110 75 308.67 -31.54 179.76
205 Central America 151,348 196,844 300.78 30.06 421.25
206 Belize 307 506 345.13 65.05 634.71
207 Costa Rica 4,579 6,373 374.00 39.19 559.77
208 El Salvador 6,163 7,882 180.15 27.89 258.30
209 Guatemala 14,027 27,480 345.86 95.91 773.48
210 Honduras 7,466 12,402 402.01 66.11 733.90
211 Mexico 109,610 128,964 295.12 17.66 364.89
212 Nicaragua 5,743 8,143 343.46 41.80 528.83
213 Panama 3,454 5,092 301.57 47.43 492.03
214 South America 389,097 482,850 246.14 24.09 329.54
215 Argentina 40,276 50,943 134.84 26.48 197.04
216 Bolivia 9,863 14,908 263.46 51.16 449.38
217 Brazil 193,734 218,512 258.93 12.79 304.84
218 Chile 16,970 20,657 179.03 21.72 239.64
219 Colombia 45,660 62,877 280.51 37.71 423.99
220 Ecuador 13,625 17,989 302.23 32.03 431.07
221 Falkland Islands (Malvinas) 3 3 33.83 -1.95 31.23
222 French Guiana 226 462 785.64 104.89 1,714.59
223 Guyana 762 558 80.30 -26.77 32.04
224 Paraguay 6,349 9,867 330.95 55.41 569.76
225 Peru 29,165 39,776 282.12 36.38 421.14
226 Suriname 520 619 141.74 19.03 187.76
227 Uruguay 3,361 3,637 50.14 8.21 62.47
228 Venezuela 28,583 42,042 461.15 47.08 725.36
229 NORTHERN AMERICA 348,360 448,464 102.99 28.74 161.32
230 Bermuda 65 63 74.08 -3.37 68.22
231 Canada 33,573 44,414 144.40 32.29 223.31
232 Greenland 57 50 149.13 -12.93 116.92
233 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 6 6 32.43 -0.18 32.19
234 United States of America 314,659 403,932 99.39 28.37 155.96
235 OCEANIA 35,387 51,338 176.31 45.08 300.85
236 Australia/New Zealand 25,559 34,073 152.39 33.31 236.45
237 Australia 21,293 28,724 159.07 34.90 249.48
238 New Zealand 4,266 5,349 123.61 25.36 180.32
239 Melanesia 8,594 15,632 275.40 81.88 582.79
240 Fiji 849 910 193.85 7.15 214.86
241 New Caledonia 250 362 285.74 44.67 458.06
242 Papua New Guinea 6,732 12,871 274.40 91.19 615.81
243 Solomon Islands 523 1,007 482.64 92.45 1,021.29
244 Vanuatu 240 482 402.75 101.16 911.32
245 Micronesia 566 802 282.13 41.69 441.43
246 Guam 178 242 197.93 35.92 304.95
247 Kiribati 98 151 275.65 54.51 480.41
248 Marshall Islands 62 92 377.24 48.82 610.22
249 Micronesia (Fed. States of) 111 128 246.02 15.55 299.82
250 Nauru 10 11 245.75 6.12 266.92
251 Northern Mariana Islands 87 151 1,141.53 74.35 2,064.57
252 Palau 20 26 174.92 29.26 255.37
253 Polynesia 667 831 174.97 24.61 242.64
254 American Samoa 67 107 255.66 58.84 464.95
255 Cook Islands 20 24 31.36 21.28 59.32
256 French Polynesia 269 354 343.26 31.61 483.39
257 Niue 1 1 -68.35 -25.12 -76.30
258 Pitcairn 0 0 -61.54 2.00 -60.77
259 Samoa 179 192 117.83 7.49 134.14
260 Tokelau 1 1 -23.63 0.92 -22.93
261 Tonga 104 123 120.18 18.76 161.48
262 Tuvalu 10 11 92.20 11.15 113.63
263 Wallis and Futuna Islands 15 17 118.94 10.37 141.63

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