Monaco led the ranking for countries with the highest population density in 2024, with nearly 26,000 residents per square kilometer. The Special Administrative Region of Macao came in second, followed by Singapore. The world’s second smallest country Monaco is the world’s second-smallest country, with an area of about two square kilometers and a population of only around 40,000. It is a constitutional monarchy located by the Mediterranean Sea, and while Monaco is not part of the European Union, it does participate in some EU policies. The country is perhaps most famous for the Monte Carlo casino and for hosting the Monaco Grand Prix, the world's most prestigious Formula One race. The global population Globally, the population density per square kilometer is about 60 inhabitants, and Asia is the most densely populated region in the world. The global population is increasing rapidly, so population density is only expected to increase. In 1950, for example, the global population stood at about 2.54 billion people, and it reached over eight billion during 2023.

The average for 2023 based on 196 countries was 471 people per square km. The highest value was in Macao: 20570 people per square km and the lowest value was in Mongolia: 2 people per square km. The indicator is available from 1961 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

As of July 2023, Monaco is the country with the highest population density worldwide, with an estimated population of nearly ****** per square kilometer.

The average for 2023 based on 47 countries was 637 people per square km. The highest value was in Monaco: 18693 people per square km and the lowest value was in Iceland: 4 people per square km. The indicator is available from 1961 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Each year Eurostat collects demographic data at regional level from EU, EFTA and Candidate countries as part of the Population Statistics data collection. POPSTAT is Eurostat’s main annual demographic data collection and aims to gather information on demography and migration at national and regional levels by various breakdowns (for the full overview see the Eurostat dedicated section). More specifically, POPSTAT collects data at regional levels on:

• population stocks;
• vital events (live births and deaths).

Each country must send the statistics for the reference year (T) to Eurostat by 31 December of the following calendar year (T+1). Eurostat then publishes the data in March of the calendar year after that (T+2).

Demographic data at regional level include statistics on the population at the end of the calendar year and on live births and deaths during that year, according to the official classification for statistics at regional level (NUTS - nomenclature of territorial units for statistics) in force in the year. These data are broken down by NUTS 2 and 3 levels for EU countries. For more information on the NUTS classification and its versions please refer to the Eurostat dedicated pages. For EFTA and Candidate countries the data are collected according to the agreed statistical regions that have been coded in a way that resembles NUTS.

The breakdown of demographic data collected at regional level varies depending on the NUTS/statistical region level. These breakdowns are summarised below, along with the link to the corresponding online table:

NUTS 2 level

• Population by sex, age and region of residence — demo_r_d2jan
• Population on 1 January by age group, sex and region of residence — demo_r_pjangroup
• Live births by mother's age, mother's year of birth and mother's region of residence — demo_r_fagec
• Deaths by sex, age, and region of residence — demo_r_magec

NUTS 3 level

• Population on 1 January by sex, age group and region of residence — demo_r_pjangrp3
• Population on 1 January by broad age group, sex and region of residence — demo_r_pjanaggr3
• Live births (total) by region of residence — demo_r_births
• Live births by five-year age group of the mothers and region of residence — demo_r_fagec3
• Deaths (total) by region of residence — demo_r_deaths
• Deaths by five-year age group, sex and region of residence — demo_r_magec3

This more detailed breakdown (by five-year age group) of the data collected at NUTS 3 level started with the reference year 2013 and is in accordance with the European laws on demographic statistics. In addition to the regional codes set out in the NUTS classification in force, these online tables include few additional codes that are meant to cover data on persons and events that cannot be allocated to any official NUTS region. These codes are denoted as CCX/CCXX/CCXXX (Not regionalised/Unknown level 1/2/3; CC stands for country code) and are available only for France, Hungary, North Macedonia and Albania, reflecting the raw data as transmitted to Eurostat.

For the reference years from 1990 to 2012 all countries sent to Eurostat all the data on a voluntary basis, therefore the completeness of the tables and the length of time series reflect the level of data received from the responsible National Statistical Institutes’ (NSIs) data provider. As a general remark, a lower data breakdown is available at NUTS 3 level as detailed:

• population data are broken down by sex and broad age groups (0-14, 15-64 and 65 or more). The data have this disaggregation since the reference year 2007 for all countries, and even longer for some — demo_r_pjanaggr3
• vital events (live births and deaths) data are available only as totals, without any further breakdown — demo_r_births and demo_r_deaths

Demographic indicators are calculated by Eurostat based on the above raw data using a common methodology for all countries and regions. The regional demographic indicators computed by NUTS level and the corresponding online tables are summarised below:

NUTS 2 level

• Population structure indicators by region of residence (shares of various population age groups, dependency ratios and median age) — demo_r_pjanind2
• Fertility indicators by region of residence — demo_r_find2
• Fertility rates by age and region of residence — demo_r_frate2
• Life table by age, sex and region of residence — demo_r_mlife
• Life expectancy by age, sex and region of residence — demo_r_mlifexp
• Infant mortality rates by region of residence — demo_r_minfind

NUTS 3 level

• Population change - Demographic balance and crude rates at regional level — demo_r_gind3
• Population density by region — demo_r_d3dens
• Population structure indicators by region of residence (shares of various population age groups, dependency ratios and median age) — demo_r_pjanind3
• Fertility indicators by region of residence (total fertility rate, mean age of woman at childbirth and median age of woman at childbirth) — demo_r_find3

Notes:

1) All the indicators are computed for all lower NUTS regions included in the tables (e.g. data included in a table at NUTS 3 level will include also the data for NUTS 2, 1 and country levels).

2) Demographic indicators computed by NUTS 2 and 3 levels are calculated using input data that have different age breakdown. Therefore, minor differences can be noted between the values corresponding to the same indicator of the same region classified as NUTS 2, 1 or country level.

3) Since the reference year 2015, Eurostat has stopped collecting data on area; therefore, the table 'Area by NUTS 3 region (demo_r_d3area)' includes data up to the year 2015 included.

4) Starting with the reference year 2016, the population density indicator is computed using the new data on area 'Area by NUTS 3 region (reg_area3).

Dataset

This dataset was created by Taylor S. Amarel

Released under CC0: Public Domain

Contents

As of 2025, Barbados was the most densely populated country in Latin America and the Caribbean, with approximately 657.16 people per square kilometer. In that same year, Argentina's population density was estimated at approximately 16.75 people per square kilometer.

This dataset provides information on the population statistics of various countries for the years 2023 and 2024. It includes details such as the total area of each country, population density, growth rate, percentage of the world population, and world rank by population.

Countries ranked by population per square kilometer.

In 2023, Washington, D.C. had the highest population density in the United States, with 11,130.69 people per square mile. As a whole, there were about 94.83 residents per square mile in the U.S., and Alaska was the state with the lowest population density, with 1.29 residents per square mile. The problem of population density Simply put, population density is the population of a country divided by the area of the country. While this can be an interesting measure of how many people live in a country and how large the country is, it does not account for the degree of urbanization, or the share of people who live in urban centers. For example, Russia is the largest country in the world and has a comparatively low population, so its population density is very low. However, much of the country is uninhabited, so cities in Russia are much more densely populated than the rest of the country. Urbanization in the United States While the United States is not very densely populated compared to other countries, its population density has increased significantly over the past few decades. The degree of urbanization has also increased, and well over half of the population lives in urban centers.

Mauritius had the highest population density level in Africa as of 2023, with nearly *** inhabitants per square kilometer. The country has also one of the smallest territories on the continent, which contributes to the high density. As a matter of fact, the majority of African countries with the largest concentration of people per square kilometer have the smallest geographical area as well. The exception is Nigeria, which ranks among the largest territorial countries in Africa and is very densely populated at the same time. After all, Nigeria has also the largest population on the continent.

Description

This Dataset contains details of World Population by country. According to the worldometer, the current population of the world is 8.2 billion people. Highest populated country is India followed by China and USA.

Attribute Information

• Rank : Country Rank by Population.
• Country : Name of the Country.
• Population(2024) : Current Population of each Country.
• Yearly Change : Percentage Yearly Change in Population.
• Net Change : Net change in the Population.
• Density (P/Km²) : Population density (population per square km)
• Land Area(Km²) : Total land area of the Country.
• Migrants (net) : Total number of migrants.
• Fertility Rate : Fertility rate
• Median Age : Median age of the population
• Urban Pop % : Percentage of urban population
• World Share : Share to the word with population.

Acknowledgements

https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-country/

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

The average for 2023 based on 12 countries was 25 people per square km. The highest value was in Ecuador: 72 people per square km and the lowest value was in Guyana: 4 people per square km. The indicator is available from 1961 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Historical data for Population density in Least developed countries from 2020 to 2026

Ratio between the annual average population and the land area. The land area concept (excluding inland waters, such as lakes, wide rivers, estuaries) should be used wherever available; if not available, then the total area (including inland waters) is used.

Denmark has, by far, the highest population density of the Nordic countries. This is related to the fact that it is the smallest Nordic country in terms of land area. Meanwhile, Iceland, which has the smallest population of the five countries, also has the lowest population density. As the total population increased in all five countries over the past decade, the population density also increased.

This list includes both countries and dependent territories. Data based on the latest United Nations Population Division estimates.

• Country - Name of countries and dependent territories.
• Population2023 - Population in the year 2023
• YearlyChange - Percentage Yearly Change in Population
• NetChange - Net Change in Population
• Density(P/Km²)- Population density (population per square km)
• Land Area(Km²) - Land area of countries / dependent territories.
• Migrants(net) - Total number of migrants
• Fert.Rate - Fertility rate
• Med.Age - Median age of the population
• UrbanPop%- Percentage of urban population
• WorldShare - Population share

The Global Population Density Grid Time Series Estimates provide a back-cast time series of population density grids based on the year 2000 population grid from SEDAC's Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project, Version 1 (GRUMPv1) data set. The grids were created by using rates of population change between decades from the coarser resolution History Database of the Global Environment (HYDE) database to back-cast the GRUMPv1 population density grids. Mismatches between the spatial extent of the HYDE calculated rates and GRUMPv1 population data were resolved via infilling rate cells based on a focal mean of values. Finally, the grids were adjusted so that the population totals for each country equaled the UN World Population Prospects (2008 Revision) estimates for that country for the respective year (1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000). These data do not represent census observations for the years prior to 2000, and therefore can at best be thought of as estimations of the populations in given locations. The population grids are consistent internally within the time series, but are not recommended for use in creating longer time series with any other population grids, including GRUMPv1, Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4), or non-SEDAC developed population grids. These population grids served as an input to SEDAC's Global Estimated Net Migration Grids by Decade: 1970-2000 data set.

Estimated population density per grid-cell. The dataset is available to download in Geotiff and ASCII XYZ format at a resolution of 30 arc (approximately 1km at the equator). The projection is Geographic Coordinate System, WGS84. The units are number of people per square kilometre based on country totals adjusted to match the corresponding official United Nations population estimates that have been prepared by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat (2019 Revision of World Population Prospects). The mapping approach is Random Forest-based dasymetric redistribution.

Description

This comprehensive dataset provides a wealth of information about all countries worldwide, covering a wide range of indicators and attributes. It encompasses demographic statistics, economic indicators, environmental factors, healthcare metrics, education statistics, and much more. With every country represented, this dataset offers a complete global perspective on various aspects of nations, enabling in-depth analyses and cross-country comparisons.

Key Features

Country: Name of the country.

Density (P/Km2): Population density measured in persons per square kilometer.

Abbreviation: Abbreviation or code representing the country.

Agricultural Land (%): Percentage of land area used for agricultural purposes.

Land Area (Km2): Total land area of the country in square kilometers.

Armed Forces Size: Size of the armed forces in the country.

Birth Rate: Number of births per 1,000 population per year.

Calling Code: International calling code for the country.

Capital/Major City: Name of the capital or major city.

CO2 Emissions: Carbon dioxide emissions in tons.

CPI: Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation and purchasing power.

CPI Change (%): Percentage change in the Consumer Price Index compared to the previous year.

Currency_Code: Currency code used in the country.

Fertility Rate: Average number of children born to a woman during her lifetime.

Forested Area (%): Percentage of land area covered by forests.

Gasoline_Price: Price of gasoline per liter in local currency.

GDP: Gross Domestic Product, the total value of goods and services produced in the country.

Gross Primary Education Enrollment (%): Gross enrollment ratio for primary education.

Gross Tertiary Education Enrollment (%): Gross enrollment ratio for tertiary education.

Infant Mortality: Number of deaths per 1,000 live births before reaching one year of age.

Largest City: Name of the country's largest city.

Life Expectancy: Average number of years a newborn is expected to live.

Maternal Mortality Ratio: Number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

Minimum Wage: Minimum wage level in local currency.

Official Language: Official language(s) spoken in the country.

Out of Pocket Health Expenditure (%): Percentage of total health expenditure paid out-of-pocket by individuals.

Physicians per Thousand: Number of physicians per thousand people.

Population: Total population of the country.

Population: Labor Force Participation (%): Percentage of the population that is part of the labor force.

Tax Revenue (%): Tax revenue as a percentage of GDP.

Total Tax Rate: Overall tax burden as a percentage of commercial profits.

Unemployment Rate: Percentage of the labor force that is unemployed.

Urban Population: Percentage of the population living in urban areas.

Latitude: Latitude coordinate of the country's location.

Longitude: Longitude coordinate of the country's location.

Potential Use Cases

Analyze population density and land area to study spatial distribution patterns.

Investigate the relationship between agricultural land and food security.

Examine carbon dioxide emissions and their impact on climate change.

Explore correlations between economic indicators such as GDP and various socio-economic factors.

Investigate educational enrollment rates and their implications for human capital development.

Analyze healthcare metrics such as infant mortality and life expectancy to assess overall well-being.

Study labor market dynamics through indicators such as labor force participation and unemployment rates.

Investigate the role of taxation and its impact on economic development.

Explore urbanization trends and their social and environmental consequences.