The United Nations Population Division is a part of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). Its primary mission is to provide timely and accurate demographic information and analysis to assist countries in making informed policy decisions related to population and development. The division produces a wide range of demographic data, reports, and publications, and it serves as a key source of information on global population trends.

Some of the main functions and activities of the United Nations Population Division include:

1. Data Collection and Analysis: The division collects and compiles data on population, fertility, mortality, migration, and other demographic variables from member states and other international sources. It analyzes this data to track global demographic trends and provides population estimates and projections.

2. World Population Prospects: The division publishes the "World Population Prospects," which is a comprehensive set of demographic data and projections for countries around the world. This report is regularly updated and is widely used by governments, researchers, and policymakers.

3. Demographic Research: The division conducts research on a wide range of demographic issues, including aging populations, urbanization, family planning, and more. This research helps to inform policies and programs aimed at addressing demographic challenges.

4. Technical Assistance: The division provides technical assistance to countries in areas related to population and development, including capacity building, data collection, and analysis.

5. Reports and Publications: The division produces a variety of reports, publications, and working papers on demographic topics. These resources are made available to the public and serve as valuable references for researchers and policymakers.

6. Population Conferences: The United Nations Population Division plays a role in organizing and supporting international conferences and events related to population and development issues. These conferences provide a platform for countries to discuss and coordinate actions to address demographic challenges.

Overall, the United Nations Population Division plays a crucial role in monitoring and understanding global demographic trends and supporting countries in their efforts to develop policies and programs that promote sustainable development and address population-related challenges.

This is a repository of global and regional human population data collected from: the databases of scenarios assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Sixth Assessment Report, Special Report on 1.5 C; Fifth Assessment Report), multi-national databases of population projections (World Bank, International Database, United Nation population projections), and other very long-term population projections (Resources for the Future).

More specifically, it contains:

• in other_pop_data folder files from World Bank, the International Database from the US Census, and from IHME

• in the SSP folder, the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways, as in the version 2.0 downloaded from IIASA and as in the version 3.0 downloaded from IIASA workspace

• in the UN folder, the demographic projections from UN

• IAMstat.xlsx, an overview file of the metadata accompanying the scenarios present in the IPCC databases

• RFF.csv, an overview file containing the population projections obtained by Resources For the Future

'- the remaining .csv files with names AR6#, AR5#, IAMC15# contain the IPCC scenarios assessed by the IPCC for preparing the IPCC assessment reports. They can be downloaded from AR5, SR 1.5, and AR6

This data in intended to be downloaded for use together with the package downloadable here.

The dataset was used as a supporting material for the paper "Underestimating demographic uncertainties in the synthesis process of the IPCC" accepted on npj Climate Action (DOI : 10.1038/s44168-024-00152-y).

The World Population Prospects is the twenty-eighth edition of official United Nations population estimates and projections that have been prepared by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. It presents population estimates from 1950 to the present for 237 countries or areas, underpinned by analyses of historical demographic trends.

The world population surpassed eight billion people in 2022, having doubled from its figure less than 50 years previously. Looking forward, it is projected that the world population will reach nine billion in 2038, and 10 billion in 2060, but it will peak around 10.3 billion in the 2080s before it then goes into decline. Regional variations The global population has seen rapid growth since the early 1800s, due to advances in areas such as food production, healthcare, water safety, education, and infrastructure, however, these changes did not occur at a uniform time or pace across the world. Broadly speaking, the first regions to undergo their demographic transitions were Europe, North America, and Oceania, followed by Latin America and Asia (although Asia's development saw the greatest variation due to its size), while Africa was the last continent to undergo this transformation. Because of these differences, many so-called "advanced" countries are now experiencing population decline, particularly in Europe and East Asia, while the fastest population growth rates are found in Sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, the roughly two billion difference in population between now and the 2080s' peak will be found in Sub-Saharan Africa, which will rise from 1.2 billion to 3.2 billion in this time (although populations in other continents will also fluctuate). Changing projections The United Nations releases their World Population Prospects report every 1-2 years, and this is widely considered the foremost demographic dataset in the world. However, recent years have seen a notable decline in projections when the global population will peak, and at what number. Previous reports in the 2010s had suggested a peak of over 11 billion people, and that population growth would continue into the 2100s, however a sooner and shorter peak is now projected. Reasons for this include a more rapid population decline in East Asia and Europe, particularly China, as well as a prolonged development arc in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Global Population Count Grid Time Series Estimates provide a back-cast time series of population 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 count 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.

This graph shows population projections for the United States of America. The estimated population of the USA in 2050 is 398 million residents. Population The U.S. Census Bureau presents annual projections for the growth of the U.S. population up to the year 2060. By 2050, it is estimated that the American population will surpass 398 million citizens. The U.S. census also projects a regressing annual growth rate, starting at 0.8 percent in 2015 and decreasing to 0.46 percent by 2060.

The UN population division publishes population projections for the entire world up to the year 2100. The United Nations also projects a regressing annual growth rate of the world population. Between 2015 and 2020, the population is expected to increase by 1.04 percent annually. Around 2060, the annual growth rate will have decreased to 0.34 percent.

Whereas the population is expected to decrease somewhat until 2100 in Asia, Europe, and South America, it is predicted to grow significantly in Africa. While there were 1.55 billion inhabitants on the continent at the beginning of 2025, the number of inhabitants is expected to reach 3.81 billion by 2100. In total, the global population is expected to reach nearly 10.18 billion by 2100. Worldwide population In the United States, the total population is expected to steadily increase over the next couple of years. In 2024, Asia held over half of the global population and is expected to have the highest number of people living in urban areas in 2050. Asia is home to the two most populous countries, India and China, both with a population of over one billion people. However, the small country of Monaco had the highest population density worldwide in 2024. Effects of overpopulation Alongside the growing worldwide population, there are negative effects of overpopulation. The increasing population puts a higher pressure on existing resources and contributes to pollution. As the population grows, the demand for food grows, which requires more water, which in turn takes away from the freshwater available. Concurrently, food needs to be transported through different mechanisms, which contributes to air pollution. Not every resource is renewable, meaning the world is using up limited resources that will eventually run out. Furthermore, more species will become extinct which harms the ecosystem and food chain. Overpopulation was considered to be one of the most important environmental issues worldwide in 2020.

General Information

The Pop-AUT database was developed for the DISCC-AT project, which required subnational population projections for Austria consistent with the updated Shared Socio-Economic Pathways (SSPs). For this database, the most recent version of the nationwide SSP population projections (IIASA-WiC POP 2023) are spatially downscaled, offering a detailed perspective at the subnational level in Austria. Recognizing the relevance of this information for a wider audience, the data has been made publicly accessible through an interactive dashboard. There, users are invited to explore how the Austrian population is projected to evolve under different SSP scenarios until the end of this century.

Methodology

The downscaling process of the nationwide Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) population projections is a four-step procedure developed to obtain subnational demographic projections for Austria. In the first step, population potential surfaces for Austria are derived. These indicate the attractiveness of a location in terms of habitability and are obtained using machine learning techniques, specifically random forest models, along with geospatial information such as land use, roads, elevation, distance to cities, and elevation (see, e.g., Wang et al. 2023).

The population potential surfaces play a crucial role in distributing the Austrian population effectively across the country. Calculations are based on the 1×1 km spatial resolution database provided by Wang et al. (2023), covering all SSPs in 5-year intervals from 2020 to 2100.

Moving to the second step, the updated nationwide SSP population projections for Austria (IIASA-WiC POP 2023) are distributed to all 1×1 km grid cells within the country. This distribution is guided by the previously computed grid cell-level population potential surfaces, ensuring a more granular representation of demographic trends.

The base year for all scenarios is 2015, obtained by downscaling the UN World Population Prospects 2015 count for Austria using the WorldPop (2015) 1×1 km population count raster.

In the third step, the 1×1 km population projections are temporally interpolated to obtain yearly projections for all SSP scenarios spanning the period from 2015 to 2100.

The final step involves the spatial aggregation of the gridded SSP-consistent population projections to the administrative levels of provinces (Bundesländer), districts (Bezirke), and municipalities (Gemeinden).

Dashboard

The data can be explored interactively through a dashboard.

Data Inputs

Updated nationwide SSP population projections: IIASA-WiC POP (2023) (https://zenodo.org/records/7921989)

Population potential surfaces: Wang, X., Meng, X., & Long, Y. (2022). Projecting 1 km-grid population distributions from 2020 to 2100 globally under shared socioeconomic pathways. Scientific Data, 9(1), 563.

Shapefiles: data.gv.at

WorldPop 2015: WorldPop (www.worldpop.org - School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton; Department of Geography and Geosciences, University of Louisville; Departement de Geographie, Universite de Namur) and Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University (2018). Global High Resolution Population Denominators Project - Funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1134076). https://dx.doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/WP00647

Version

This is version 1.0, built upon the Review-Phase 2 version of the updated nationwide SSP population projections (IIASA-WiC POP 2023). Once these projections are revised, this dataset will be accordingly updated.

File Organization

The SSP-consistent population projections for Austria are accessible in two formats: .csv files for administrative units (provinces = Bundesländer, districts = Politische Bezirke, municipalities = Gemeinden) and 1×1 km raster files in GeoTIFF and NetCDF formats. All files encompass annual population counts spanning from 2015 to 2100.

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.

Units: Millions of People. Source: Author's calculations from Angus Maddison's historical series, 'Historical statistics of the world economy 1-2008' (February 2010), United Nations/World Bank's official series for 1990-2012 (Octobre 2012), et UN official projections for 2012-2100 (UN Population Prospects, April 2011 version) (central scenario, then high scenario, then low scenario). Russia was included in Europe, and former Central Asia Republiques et Oceania in Asia. All the details are available in the followong excel files: population data 0-2012 are directly copied from table S1.2; projections directly copied from file WorldGDP.xls sheets TableW8, TableW8H et Table W8L

Population projections for Pacific Island Countries and territories from 1950 to 2050, by sex and by 5-years age groups.

Find more Pacific data on PDH.stat.

Access this dataset from the Pacific Data Hub

"Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates.This dataset includes demographic data of 22 countries from 1960 to 2018, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Maldives, etc. Data fields include: country, year, population ratio, male ratio, female ratio, population density (km). Source: ( 1 ) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2019 Revision. ( 2 ) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, ( 3 ) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, ( 4 ) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot ( various years ), ( 5 ) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and ( 6 ) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme. Periodicity: Annual Statistical Concept and Methodology: Population estimates are usually based on national population censuses. Estimates for the years before and after the census are interpolations or extrapolations based on demographic models. Errors and undercounting occur even in high-income countries. In developing countries errors may be substantial because of limits in the transport, communications, and other resources required to conduct and analyze a full census. The quality and reliability of official demographic data are also affected by public trust in the government, government commitment to full and accurate enumeration, confidentiality and protection against misuse of census data, and census agencies' independence from political influence. Moreover, comparability of population indicators is limited by differences in the concepts, definitions, collection procedures, and estimation methods used by national statistical agencies and other organizations that collect the data. The currentness of a census and the availability of complementary data from surveys or registration systems are objective ways to judge demographic data quality. Some European countries' registration systems offer complete information on population in the absence of a census. The United Nations Statistics Division monitors the completeness of vital registration systems. Some developing countries have made progress over the last 60 years, but others still have deficiencies in civil registration systems. International migration is the only other factor besides birth and death rates that directly determines a country's population growth. Estimating migration is difficult. At any time many people are located outside their home country as tourists, workers, or refugees or for other reasons. Standards for the duration and purpose of international moves that qualify as migration vary, and estimates require information on flows into and out of countries that is difficult to collect. Population projections, starting from a base year are projected forward using assumptions of mortality, fertility, and migration by age and sex through 2050, based on the UN Population Division's World Population Prospects database medium variant."

Before 2025, the world's total population is expected to reach eight billion. Furthermore, it is predicted to reach over 10 billion in 2060, before slowing again as global birth rates are expected to decrease. Moreover, it is still unclear to what extent global warming will have an impact on population development. A high share of the population increase is expected to happen on the African continent.

Original site: https://fieldmaps.io/data/population

Population statistics using data from WorldPop Unconstrained Individual Countries to create a complete global coverage population raster. Results are aggregated to humanitarian edge-matched boundaries, adjusted so that ADM0 totals match those of the 2024 projections in the United Nations World Population Prospects.

The Demographic Trade Database is an ongoing project compiling multiple sources of information on bilateral trade, macroeconomic variables, and population demographics into easy to use resource. This data is made available to provide researchers with the tools needed to further explore questions relating to how underlying population movements affect the bilateral flow of trade between countries, and the degree to which projected changes in demographics may affect the global trade landscape in years to come.TradeDemography.dta provides the main dataset which contains trade and demographic values for 39,601 country-pairs from 1970-2019. The dataset TradeDemography_wProj.dta has the same economic, but also includes medium variant projections for demographic variables from 2020-2100. For a detailed documentation and discussion of constructed demographic variables: https://www.josephkopecky.com/Source used to construct this database come from the CEPII Gravity database and the UN World Population Prospects database:Conte, M., P. Cotterlaz and T. Mayer (2022), "The CEPII Gravity database". CEPII Working Paper N°2022-05, July 2022. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022). World Population Prospects 2022: Methodology of the United Nations population estimates and projections. UN DESA/POP/2022/TR/NO. 4.

Data contains 2022 world population data publised by the UN DESA for six most populous countries of the world. File also contains the analysis of decomposition of demographic indicators on population growth.

This is a repository of global and regional human population data collected from: the databases of scenarios assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Sixth Assessment Report, Special Report on 1.5 C; Fifth Assessment Report), multi-national databases of population projections (World Bank, International Database, United Nation population projections), and other very long-term population projections (Resources for the Future). More specifically, it contains: - in other_pop_data folder files from World Bank, the International Database from the US Census, and from IHME - in the SSP folder, the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways, downloaded from IIASA - in the UN folder, the demographic projections from UN - IAMstat.xlsx, an overview file of the metadata accompanying the scenarios present in the IPCC databases - RFF.csv, an overview file containing the population projections obtained by Resources For the Future '- the remaining .csv files with names AR6#, AR5#, IAMC15# contain the IPCC scenarios assessed by the IPCC for preparing the IPCC assessment reports. They can be downloaded from AR5, SR 1.5, and AR6 This data should be used downloaded for use together with the package downloadable here.

Data is derived from country census complied by the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. The suggested citation of the original report is: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2014). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision, CD-ROM Edition. Further information at https://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/CD-ROM/Default.aspx

The Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations has been issuing, since 1988, every two years revised estimates and projections of the urban and rural populations of all countries in the world and of their major urban agglomerations. This web site presents the main findings of the 2014 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects which are consistent with the size of the total population of each country as estimated or projected in the 2012 Revision of World Population Prospects(United Nations, 2013). The World Urbanization Prospects are used widely throughout the United Nations and by many international organizations, research centers, academic researchers and the media.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2017). Food and Agriculture Organization Statistics: Population | Country: Netherlands | Item: Population - Est. & Proj. | Element: Total Population - Female - 1000, 1950-2100. Data-Planet™ Statistical Ready Reference by Conquest Systems, Inc. [Data-file]. Dataset-ID: 067-001-008. Dataset: Presents population statistics, including data on the urban and rural population, and the agricultural and economically active population, broken down by gender. The series consist of both estimates and projections for different periods as available from the original sources: the United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision and World Urbanization Prospects: The 2009 Revision Long term series estimates and projections from 1961 to 2050; and the International Labour Organisation. The time-series and cross-sectional data provided here are from the FAOSTAT database of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Statistics include measures related to the food supply; forestry; agricultural production, prices, and investment; and trade and use of resources, such as fertilizers, land, and pesticides. As available, data are provided for approximately 245 countries and 35 regional areas from 1961 through the present. The data are typically supplied by governments to FAO Statistics through national publications and FAO questionnaires. Official data have sometimes been supplemented with data from unofficial sources and from other national or international agencies or organizations. In particular, for the European Union member countries, with the exception of Spain, data obtained from EUROSTAT have been used. Category: Agriculture and Food, International Relations and Trade Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Established in 1945 as a specialized agency of the United Nations, the Food and Agricultural Organization’s mandate is to raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity, better the lives of rural populations, and contribute to the growth of the world economy. Staff experts in seven FAO departments serve as a knowledge network to collect, analyze, and disseminate data, sharing policy expertise with member countries and implementing projects and programs throughout the world aimed at achieving rural development and hunger alleviation goals. The Statistics Division of the Food and Agricultural Organization collates and disseminates food and agricultural statistics globally. http://www.fao.org/ Subject: Rural Population, Workers, Agriculture, Agricultural Labor, Population Size, Urban Population, Females, Males