Over the past 23 years, there were constantly more men than women living on the planet. Of the 8.06 billion people living on the Earth in 2023, 4.05 billion were men and 4.01 billion were women. One-quarter of the world's total population in 2024 was below 15 years.

In terms of population size, the sex ratio in the United States favors females, although the gender gap is remaining stable. In 2010, there were around 5.17 million more women, with the difference projected to decrease to around 3 million by 2027.

Gender ratios by U.S. state In the United States, the resident population was estimated to be around 331.89 million in 2021. The gender distribution of the nation has remained steady for several years, with women accounting for approximately 51.1 percent of the population since 2013. Females outnumbered males in the majority of states across the country in 2020, and there were eleven states where the gender ratio favored men.

Metro areas by population National differences between male and female populations can also be analyzed by metropolitan areas. In general, a metropolitan area is a region with a main city at its center and adjacent communities that are all connected by social and economic factors. The largest metro areas in the U.S. are New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. In 2019, there were more women than men in all three of those areas, but Jackson, Missouri was the metro area with the highest share of female population.

Population, female (% of total population) in World was reported at 49.71 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. World - Population, female (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on May of 2025.

Alaska had the highest male to female ratio in the United States in 2020, with ***** men for every 100 women. The male to female ratio was lowest in the District of Columbia, with **** men for every 100 women. The final frontier Alaska, which was purchased from the Russian Empire in 1867, is the largest state in the U.S. and one of the newest states, having been admitted to the U.S. in 1959. Although oil production dominates the economy, Alaska has a very high poverty rate and consistently has the highest unemployment rate in the country. It’s a man’s world Alaska is one of 10 states in the U.S. that has more men than women. The male to female ratio in the United States as a whole is about even, but as the population ages, there tend to be more females than males. Even though the sex ratio in the U.S. is almost one to one, a little more than ** percent of all females participated in the labor force in 2021, compared with **** percent of men.

Sex ratio at birth (male births per female births) in United States was reported at 1.049 in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United States - Sex ratio at birth (male births per female births) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Worldwide, the male population is slightly higher than the female population, although this varies by country. As of 2023, Hong Kong has the highest share of women worldwide with almost ** percent. Moldova followed behind with ** percent. Among the countries with the largest share of women in the total population, several were former Soviet-states or were located in Eastern Europe. By contrast, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman had some of the highest proportions of men in their populations.

Population, female (% of total population) in United States was reported at 49.75 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United States - Population, female (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Sex ratio at birth (male births per female births) in United Kingdom was reported at 1.055 in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United Kingdom - Sex ratio at birth (male births per female births) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Over the past two decades, the number of out-of-school girls in primary school age decreased globally from 57 million to 32 million. The share of boys admitted at primary school worldwide also saw a decline from 42 million in 2000 to 27 million in 2018. Progress in reducing the number of out-of-school children has generally stagnated since 2007, and a higher number of girls than boys are not in primary school worldwide today.

Regional perspective

In detail, nine percent of girls in primary school age are not in school worldwide, compared to seven percent of their male counterparts. In a regional perspective, Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest out-of-school population in the world. 22 percent girls and 17 percent boys from this region were not in primary school in 2018. South Asia had the second highest out-of-school population that same year, with eight percent girls and six percent boys respectively.

Lower secondary school

A similar picture appears for adolescents in lower secondary age. While the number of children who were not admitted to lower secondary school generally decreased in the past years, 32 million boys and 30 million girls are still out of school to this day. Up until 10 years ago, a higher number of girls were out of school than boys, but now the tendency has shifted as fewer boys are not enrolled in lower secondary school globally. In South Asia as well as East Asia and the Pacific, a higher share of females was in lower secondary school, while in Sub-Saharan Africa more males were admitted.

The average for 2023 based on 47 countries was 51.06 percent. The highest value was in Moldova: 53.98 percent and the lowest value was in Malta: 48.11 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The average for 2022 based on 117 countries was 1.21 percent. The highest value was in Qatar: 1.79 percent and the lowest value was in Benin: 0.59 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Sex ratio at birth (male births per female births) in New Zealand was reported at 1.053 in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. New Zealand - Sex ratio at birth (male births per female births) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

In 2024, there were around 719 million male inhabitants and 689 million female inhabitants living in China, amounting to around 1.41 billion people in total. China's total population decreased for the first time in decades in 2022, and population decline is expected to accelerate in the upcoming years. Birth control in China From the beginning of the 1970s on, having many children was no longer encouraged in mainland China. The one-child policy was then introduced in 1979 to control the total size of the Chinese population. According to the one-child policy, a married couple was only allowed to have one child. With the time, modifications were added to the policy, for example parents living in rural areas were allowed to have a second child if the first was a daughter, and most ethnic minorities were excepted from the policy. Population ageing The birth control led to a decreasing birth rate in China and a more skewed gender ratio of new births due to boy preference. Since the negative economic and social effects of an aging population were more and more felt in China, the one-child policy was considered an obstacle for the country’s further economic development. Since 2014, the one-child policy has been gradually relaxed and fully eliminated at the end of 2015. However, many young Chinese people are not willing to have more children due to high costs of raising a child, especially in urban areas.

School enrollment, primary and secondary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) in United States was reported at 0.98683 % in 2020, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United States - Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Sex ratio at birth (male births per female births) in Ireland was reported at 1.056 in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Ireland - Sex ratio at birth (male births per female births) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Monaco MC: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Male: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 3.000 Ratio in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 3.100 Ratio for 2022. Monaco MC: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Male: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 5.100 Ratio from Dec 1985 (Median) to 2023, with 39 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 10.800 Ratio in 1985 and a record low of 3.000 Ratio in 2023. Monaco MC: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Male: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Monaco – Table MC.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Under-five mortality rate, male is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn male baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to male age-specific mortality rates of the specified year.;Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.;Weighted average;Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls in countries in which parental gender preferences are insignificant. Under-five mortality captures the effect of gender discrimination better than infant mortality does, as malnutrition and medical interventions have more significant impacts to this age group. Where female under-five mortality is higher, girls are likely to have less access to resources than boys. Aggregate data for LIC, UMC, LMC, HIC are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. This is a sex-disaggregated indicator for Sustainable Development Goal 3.2.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

Morocco MA: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Male: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 29.800 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 30.800 Ratio for 2015. Morocco MA: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Male: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 36.800 Ratio from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2016, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 84.200 Ratio in 1990 and a record low of 29.800 Ratio in 2016. Morocco MA: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Male: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Morocco – Table MA.World Bank: Health Statistics. Under-five mortality rate, male is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn male baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to male age-specific mortality rates of the specified year.; ; Estimates Developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Weighted Average; Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls in countries in which parental gender preferences are insignificant. Under-five mortality captures the effect of gender discrimination better than infant mortality does, as malnutrition and medical interventions have more significant impacts to this age group. Where female under-five mortality is higher, girls are likely to have less access to resources than boys.

In all age groups until 29 years old, there were more men than women in Russia as of January 1, 2024. After that age, the female population outnumbered the male population in each category. The most represented age group in the country was from 35 to 39 years old, with approximately 6.5 million women and 6.3 million men. Male-to-female ratio in Russia The number of men in Russia was historically lower than the number of women, which was a result of population losses during World War I and World War II. In 1950, in the age category from 25 to 29 years, 68 men were recorded per 100 women in the Soviet Union. In today’s Russia, the female-to-male ratio in the same age group reached 976 women per 1,000 men. Russia has the highest life expectancy gender gap The World Health Organization estimated the average life expectancy of women across the world at over five years longer than men. In Russia, this gap between genders exceeded 10 years. According to the study “Burden of disease in Russia, 1980-2016: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016,” Russia had the highest gender difference in life expectancy worldwide.

Uzbekistan UZ: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 20.600 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 22.100 Ratio for 2015. Uzbekistan UZ: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 31.300 Ratio from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2016, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 63.900 Ratio in 1990 and a record low of 20.600 Ratio in 2016. Uzbekistan UZ: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Uzbekistan – Table UZ.World Bank: Health Statistics. Under-five mortality rate, female is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn female baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to female age-specific mortality rates of the specified year.; ; Estimates Developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Weighted Average; Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls in countries in which parental gender preferences are insignificant. Under-five mortality captures the effect of gender discrimination better than infant mortality does, as malnutrition and medical interventions have more significant impacts to this age group. Where female under-five mortality is higher, girls are likely to have less access to resources than boys.

Canada CA: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 4.700 Ratio in 2023. This stayed constant from the previous number of 4.700 Ratio for 2022. Canada CA: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 7.000 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 28.600 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 4.700 Ratio in 2023. Canada CA: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Canada – Table CA.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Under-five mortality rate, female is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn female baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to female age-specific mortality rates of the specified year.;Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.;Weighted average;Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls in countries in which parental gender preferences are insignificant. Under-five mortality captures the effect of gender discrimination better than infant mortality does, as malnutrition and medical interventions have more significant impacts to this age group. Where female under-five mortality is higher, girls are likely to have less access to resources than boys. Aggregate data for LIC, UMC, LMC, HIC are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. This is a sex-disaggregated indicator for Sustainable Development Goal 3.2.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].