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.

Alaska had the highest male to female ratio in the United States in 2020, with 109.2 men for every 100 women. The male to female ration was lowest in the District of Columbia, with 90.3 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 56 percent all females participated in the labor force in 2021, compared with 67.6 percent of men.

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.

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 55 percent. Moldova followed behind with 54 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.

Worldwide, the male population is slightly higher than the female population. As of 2023, the country with the highest percentage of men was Qatar with only slightly more than one quarter of the total population being women. The United Arab Emirates followed with 36 percent. Different factors can influence the gender distribution in a population, such as life expectancy, the sex ratio at birth, and immigration. For instance, in Qatar the large share of male is due to the high immigration flows of male labor in the country.

The gender or sex ratio in China has been a contentious issue since the introduction of the one-child policy in 1979, intended to limit the population of the country. Although the policy is no longer in place, the population gender difference throughout the country is still evident. In 2023, fifteen to nineteen-year-old children had the largest gender disparity of 115.3 males to every 100 females. Gender imbalance While the difference of gender at birth has been decreasing in the country over the past decade, China still boasts the world’s most skewed sex ratio at birth at around 110 males born for every 100 females as of 2023. That means there are about 31 million more men in the country than women. This imbalance likely came from the country’s traditional preference for male children to continue the family lineage, in combination with the population control policies enforced. Where does that leave the population? The surplus of young, single men across the country poses a risk for China in many different socio-economic areas. Some of the roll-on effects include males overrepresenting specific labor markets, savings rates increasing, consumption reducing and violent crime increasing across the country. However, the adult mortality rate in China, that is, the probability of a 15-year-old dying before reaching age 60, was significantly higher for men than for women. For the Chinese population over 60 years of age, the gender ratio is in favor of women, with more females outliving their male counterparts.

There are more women than men in Germany, although the number of men has been slowly increasing in recent years, especially since 2015. In 2023, there were around 41.8 million males and 42.9 million females in Germany. Births and deaths Globally, the death rate had been slowly decreasing until 2019 but there was a sharp spike in 2020 and 2021, which can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. The general decline, however, is probably due to medical advancements which mean that many diseases are now treatable or curable, that were not 50 years ago. The birth rate has also been decreasing across the world, but it is lowest in Europe and North America. Future challenges There are a number of challenges facing the German population in the future. Some of the most pressing ones are the growing urban population and especially its ageing structure in combination with slow birth rates, which will put increased pressure on the pension system. Because of this trend, old age security and pensions are already today in the top ten most pressing political issues in Germany.

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.

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.

In 2024, the female population in France amounted to more than 35 million. Like most of other European countries, France has a female population larger than its male population.

Female population in France

According to the source, the female population in France is increasing since 2004. That year there were more than 32 million women in France, compared to 34.1 million ten years later. Surprisingly, the total number of male births has always been higher than the total number of female births. However, life expectancy in the country is higher for women and the proportion between men and women in France appear to stabilize over time.

Women live longer than men

Studies have shown that the life expectancy at birth was higher than females than for male. In 2023, a baby boy born in France had a life expectancy of 80 years, while it reached 85.7 years for a baby girl. In Europe, as well, as in France, life expectancy gap between men and women is a consistent trend. Health issues and a riskier lifestyle could explain why women outlive men. In 2018, Madrid was the European area where both men and women had the longest life expectancy. It reached 87.8 years for females and 82.2 for males.

In 1950, when Estonia's population was estimated at 1.1 million people, approximately 57 percent of the population was female, while 43 percent was male; this equated to a difference of more than 160,000 people. In the past century, as with many former-Soviet states, Estonia has consistently had one of the most disproportionate gender ratios in the world. The reason for this was due to the large number of men who were killed in wars during the first half of the twentieth century, which was particularly high across the Soviet Union, as well as a much higher life expectancy among women. The difference in the number of men and women in Estonia has gradually decreased over the past seven decades, but in 2020, there are still 70,000 more females than males, in a population of 1.3 million people; this equates to total shares of roughly 53 percent and 47 percent of the total population respectively.

Globally, about 25 percent of the population is under 15 years of age and 10 percent is over 65 years of age. Africa has the youngest population worldwide. In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 40 percent of the population is below 15 years, and only three percent are above 65, indicating the low life expectancy in several of the countries. In Europe, on the other hand, a higher share of the population is above 65 years than the population under 15 years. Fertility rates The high share of children and youth in Africa is connected to the high fertility rates on the continent. For instance, South Sudan and Niger have the highest population growth rates globally. However, about 50 percent of the world’s population live in countries with low fertility, where women have less than 2.1 children. Some countries in Europe, like Latvia and Lithuania, have experienced a population decline of one percent, and in the Cook Islands, it is even above two percent. In Europe, the majority of the population was previously working-aged adults with few dependents, but this trend is expected to reverse soon, and it is predicted that by 2050, the older population will outnumber the young in many developed countries. Growing global population As of 2025, there are 8.1 billion people living on the planet, and this is expected to reach more than nine billion before 2040. Moreover, the global population is expected to reach 10 billions around 2060, before slowing and then even falling slightly by 2100. As the population growth rates indicate, a significant share of the population increase will happen in Africa.

The gap between the number of women and men in Russia was measured at 10.26 million as of January 1, 2023, with the female population of the country historically outnumbering the male population. Both genders saw an increase in inhabitants compared to the previous year.

Why are there more women than men in Russia?

One of the factors explaining gender imbalance in modern Russia is the gap in average life expectancy between genders. In 2021, Russian women outlived men by close to 10 years. In particular, working-age men were six times more likely to die from external causes of death, such as accidents and suicides, compared to working age women in that year. Furthermore, partial mobilization announced as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war resulted in a mass exodus of young men fleeing from conscription. In response to the government’s call to recruit up to 300,000 reservists in end-September 2022, Google search interest in the term "How to leave Russia" increased sharply.

Gender imbalance and its consequences for Russia

In Russia, the labor market remains highly segregated by gender. Manual jobs in equipment operation, metal industry, manufacturing, and mechanics are male dominated, with over 10 million Russian men employed in those sectors combined as of 2022. The labor shortage in those spheres could limit the country’s potential for increased industrial production. Furthermore, fewer men exacerbate the issue of falling births in Russia. In 2021, only 1.4 million births were recorded nationwide, the lowest over the past decade. Coupled with a decreasing number of working-age men, such decline in live births could lead to less innovation, a larger share of retired people, and rising government expenditure on pensions and healthcare.

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.

In 1801 the population of France was estimated to be just under 20 million people, the number of women was 14 million, whereas the number of men was 13.3 million. The gap then widens in 1821 to 0.9 million, which is most likely a result of the Napoleonic Wars, and it then narrows during the rest of the century, shrinking to just 0.04 million in 1866.

Throughout the time shown in the graph the numbers of men and women seem to follow similar trends, however the period between 1911 and 1946 shows how drastically the numbers of men were affected by both World Wars. Between 1911 and 1921 the number of men dropped by 0.8 million, whereas the number of women grew by 0.4 million. The male population does grow again during the interwar years, however both populations drop between 1931 and 1946 due to the Second World War, with the number of males decreasing by just under one million and the number of females by 0.4 million. This graph does not show how many died in France during the wars, as the numbers would also be influenced by the birth and natural death rate, but it does give an insight into the long term affects it had on the population.

From 1946 onwards the population of France does grow steadily, and at a much faster rate than it did in the 19th century. The population grows from just under 40 million in 1946, to 65.7 million in 2020, with 31.2 and 33.2 million men and women respectively. This increase in growth comes as a result of an increased fertility rate as well as an increased rate of migration into the country. While the difference in the number of men and women did decrease after the war, reaching its lowest point of 1.1 million in 1975, the gap has widened again to over two million in 2020.

Between 1910 and 1923, as the First World War brought an end to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Republic of Austria was established, the population in the region of present-day Austria fell by more than 100,000 people. When this decline is separated by gender, it becomes clear that the number of men fell by almost 140,000 between these years, primarily consisting of fatalities from the war. A similar trend can be observed before and after the Second World War, in which more than 350,000 Austrians perished, and this is again reflected in the difference in male and female populations between 1934 an 1950. In 1950, there were almost half a million more females than males in Austria, which had a total population of almost seven million at the time.

Both populations grew from the 1950s until the late 1970s, but the populations then fell and plateaued throughout the 1980s due to a reduction in the number of foreign workers coming to the country, and the legalization of abortion and greater access to contraception (there was also a period known as the 'pill-drop-off' in the 1960s, where the birth rate decreased dramatically). By the late-1980s the population began to grow again, and the male to female ratio is growing much closer over time; however, it has never been as close as it was before the First World War, and in 2020, there are over 125,000 more females in Austria than males.

The estimated population of the U.S. was approximately 334.9 million in 2023, and the largest age group was adults aged 30 to 34. There were 11.88 million males in this age category and around 11.64 million females. Which U.S. state has the largest population? The population of the United States continues to increase, and the country is the third most populous in the world behind China and India. The gender distribution has remained consistent for many years, with the number of females narrowly outnumbering males. In terms of where the residents are located, California was the state with the highest population in 2023. The U.S. population by race and ethnicity The United States is well known the world over for having a diverse population. In 2023, the number of Black or African American individuals was estimated to be 45.76 million, which represented an increase of over four million since the 2010 census. The number of Asian residents has increased at a similar rate during the same time period and the Hispanic population in the U.S. has also continued to grow.

As of 2024, the share of internet users in the CIS region (Commonwealth of Independent States) was the highest in the world, with 91 percent of the female population and 93 percent of the male population accessing the internet. As of the same year, there were 90 percent female and 92 percent male internet users in Europe, making it the second region worldwide by internet usage. Africa was the region where internet access was the lowest. Share of female and male internet users worldwide There are still disparities between the internet access rates of male and female online users in global regions. According to the latest data, 34 percent of Africa’s female population had online access, compared to 45 percent of men. Whereas in the Americas, the share of male and female internet users was the same, 83 percent. There was also a big difference in the share of female and male internet users in the Arab States. In the region, 65 percent of women had access to the internet, whereas the share of the male population using the internet was 75 percent. The gender gap was also seen in mobile internet usage in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Internet access and SDGs As of 2022, Africa’s online access rate was the lowest worldwide, with estimates showing that just over 30 percent of the total population was using the internet. By comparison, the global average online usage rate was 51 percent. This technological gap between Africa and the rest of the world highlights the need for continued investment in information and communication technologies on the continent, as such processes can speed up progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the Global Goals, are a worldwide agenda to protect the planet, end poverty, and ensure global peace and prosperity. ICTs, especially mobile internet, contribute to the goals by enabling countries to participate in digital economies as well as empowering individuals to access crucial information and services. However, almost 40 percent of the world was not using the internet as of 2021. Particularly disenfranchised groups were frequently excluded from digital society, including women and girls, people with disabilities, elders, indigenous populations, people living in poverty, and inhabitants of least developed or developing countries. The digital gender gap was another obstacle for women to overcome on a global level to achieve economic advancement which would ultimately also benefit their communities.

There is a gender gap in the global literacy rate. Although literacy rates have generally increased worldwide for both men and women, men are on average more literate than women. As of 2023, about 90.6 percent of men and a little less than 84.1 percent of women in the world were literate. Adult literacy rate is defined as the percentage of people aged 15 years and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life. Youth literacy rate Not only does the literacy gender gap concern adults, it also exists among the world’s younger generations aged 15 to 24. Despite an overall increase in literacy, young men are still more literate than young women. In fact, the global youth literacy rate as gender parity index was 0.98 as of 2023, indicating that young women are not yet as literate as young men. Gender pay gap Gender gaps occur in many different spheres of global society. One such issue concerns salary gender gaps in the professional life. Regarding the controlled gender pay gap, which measures the median salary for men and women with the same job and qualifications, women still earned less than men as of 2024. The difference was even bigger when measuring the median salary for all men and women. However, not everyone worries about gender pay gaps. According to a survey from 2021, 54 percent of the female respondents deemed the gender pay gap a real problem, compared to 45 percent of the male respondents.

The Second World War severely altered the demographic composition of many countries, particularly in terms of gender ratios across certain age groups. For age groups below 14 years, there is little observable impact of the war on gender ratios, however, some countries see a drastic change across older generations, particularly in the Soviet Union. For men in their twenties (i.e. those in their late-teens or early-twenties when the war began), the ratio drops from 98 men per 100 women in the 15-19 age group, to 68 men per 100 women in the 25-29 group.

In addition to the Second World War, these figures are affected by trends in nature and other historical events. For example, women tend to have higher overall life expectancies than men, which typically sees gender ratios widen among older generations. The impact of the First World War is also most-observable in France's gender ratios for those aged in their fifties. Additionally, the gap in ratios remains high for the Soviet Union across older age groups due to the impact of the First World War and the famine of the early 1930s, however the figures for Russia itself are even lower as it was disproportionately affected by the Russian Revolution and famine of the 1920s.