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 average for 2023 based on 196 countries was 0.51 percent. The highest value was in India: 17.91 percent and the lowest value was in Andorra: 0 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This statistic shows the 20 countries with the highest population growth rate in 2024. In SouthSudan, the population grew by about 4.65 percent compared to the previous year, making it the country with the highest population growth rate in 2024. The global population Today, the global population amounts to around 7 billion people, i.e. the total number of living humans on Earth. More than half of the global population is living in Asia, while one quarter of the global population resides in Africa. High fertility rates in Africa and Asia, a decline in the mortality rates and an increase in the median age of the world population all contribute to the global population growth. Statistics show that the global population is subject to increase by almost 4 billion people by 2100. The global population growth is a direct result of people living longer because of better living conditions and a healthier nutrition. Three out of five of the most populous countries in the world are located in Asia. Ultimately the highest population growth rate is also found there, the country with the highest population growth rate is Syria. This could be due to a low infant mortality rate in Syria or the ever -expanding tourism sector.

In 2022, India overtook China as the world's most populous country and now has almost 1.46 billion people. China now has the second-largest population in the world, still with just over 1.4 billion inhabitants, however, its population went into decline in 2023. Global population As of 2025, the world's population stands at almost 8.2 billion people and is expected to reach around 10.3 billion people in the 2080s, when it will then go into decline. Due to improved healthcare, sanitation, and general living conditions, the global population continues to increase; mortality rates (particularly among infants and children) are decreasing and the median age of the world population has steadily increased for decades. As for the average life expectancy in industrial and developing countries, the gap has narrowed significantly since the mid-20th century. Asia is the most populous continent on Earth; 11 of the 20 largest countries are located there. It leads the ranking of the global population by continent by far, reporting four times as many inhabitants as Africa. The Demographic Transition The population explosion over the past two centuries is part of a phenomenon known as the demographic transition. Simply put, this transition results from a drastic reduction in mortality, which then leads to a reduction in fertility, and increase in life expectancy; this interim period where death rates are low and birth rates are high is where this population explosion occurs, and population growth can remain high as the population ages. In today's most-developed countries, the transition generally began with industrialization in the 1800s, and growth has now stabilized as birth and mortality rates have re-balanced. Across less-developed countries, the stage of this transition varies; for example, China is at a later stage than India, which accounts for the change in which country is more populous - understanding the demographic transition can help understand the reason why China's population is now going into decline. The least-developed region is Sub-Saharan Africa, where fertility rates remain close to pre-industrial levels in some countries. As these countries transition, they will undergo significant rates of population growth

This dataset provides information on the top 10 countries with the highest population in the world, including their respective population figures.

Historical chart and dataset showing World population growth rate by year from 1961 to 2023.

There are approximately 8.16 billion people living in the world today, a figure that shows a dramatic increase since the beginning of the Common Era. Since the 1970s, the global population has also more than doubled in size. It is estimated that the world's population will reach and surpass 10 billion people by 2060 and plateau at around 10.3 billion in the 2080s, before it then begins to fall. Asia When it comes to number of inhabitants per continent, Asia is the most populous continent in the world by a significant margin, with roughly 60 percent of the world's population living there. Similar to other global regions, a quarter of inhabitants in Asia are under 15 years of age. The most populous nations in the world are India and China respectively; each inhabit more than three times the amount of people than the third-ranked United States. 10 of the 20 most populous countries in the world are found in Asia. Africa Interestingly, the top 20 countries with highest population growth rate are mainly countries in Africa. This is due to the present stage of Sub-Saharan Africa's demographic transition, where mortality rates are falling significantly, although fertility rates are yet to drop and match this. As much of Asia is nearing the end of its demographic transition, population growth is predicted to be much slower in this century than in the previous; in contrast, Africa's population is expected to reach almost four billion by the year 2100. Unlike demographic transitions in other continents, Africa's population development is being influenced by climate change on a scale unseen by most other global regions. Rising temperatures are exacerbating challenges such as poor sanitation, lack of infrastructure, and political instability, which have historically hindered societal progress. It remains to be seen how Africa and the world at large adapts to this crisis as it continues to cause drought, desertification, natural disasters, and climate migration across the region.

The average for 2023 based on 47 countries was 1.23 percent. The highest value was in India: 17.91 percent and the lowest value was in Bhutan: 0.01 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This dataset presents information on the top 10 countries with the highest population density, including variables such as country name, population, land area, and population density.

From now until 2100, India and China will remain the most populous countries in the world, however China's population decline has already started, and it is on course to fall by around 50 percent in the 2090s; while India's population decline is projected to begin in the 2060s. Of the 10 most populous countries in the world in 2100, five will be located in Asia, four in Africa, as well as the United States. Rapid growth in Africa Rapid population growth across Africa will see the continent's population grow from around 1.5 billion people in 2024 to 3.8 billion in 2100. Additionally, unlike China or India, population growth in many of these countries is not expected to go into decline, and instead is expected to continue well into the 2100s. Previous estimates had projected these countries' populations would be much higher by 2100 (the 2019 report estimated Nigeria's population would exceed 650 million), yet the increased threat of the climate crisis and persistent instability is delaying demographic development and extending population growth. The U.S. as an outlier Compared to the nine other largest populations in 2100, the United States stands out as it is more demographically advanced, politically stable, and economically stronger. However, while most other so-called "advanced countries" are projected to see their population decline drastically in the coming decades, the U.S. population is projected to continue growing into the 2100s. This will largely be driven by high rates of immigration into the U.S., which will drive growth despite fertility rates being around 1.6 births per woman (below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman), and the slowing rate of life expectancy. Current projections estimate the U.S. will have a net migration rate over 1.2 million people per year for the remainder of the century.

The average for 2023 based on 47 countries was 48.3 percent. The highest value was in Hong Kong: 54.92 percent and the lowest value was in Qatar: 28.48 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The average for 2023 based on 11 countries was 2.41 percent. The highest value was in India: 17.91 percent and the lowest value was in Brunei: 0.01 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

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 47 countries was 0.22 percent. The highest value was in Russia: 1.8 percent and the lowest value was in Andorra: 0 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The average for 2023 based on 196 countries was 10.17 percent. The highest value was in Monaco: 36.36 percent and the lowest value was in Qatar: 1.57 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Worldwide, Papua New Guinea was the country with the highest rural population in terms of share of the country's population. As of 2023, ***** percent of the Asian country's inhabitants lived in rural areas. Burundi followed in second with ***** percent, whereas ***** percent of Liechtenstein's population lived in rural areas that year. Over the past decades, the share of the global population living in rural areas decreased.

This map features the World Population Density Estimate 2016 layer for the Caribbean region. The advantage population density affords over raw counts is the ability to compare levels of persons per square kilometer anywhere in the world. Esri calculated density by converting the the World Population Estimate 2016 layer to polygons, then added an attribute for geodesic area, which allowed density to be derived, and that was converted back to raster. A population density raster is better to use for mapping and visualization than a raster of raw population counts because raster cells are square and do not account for area. For instance, compare a cell with 185 people in northern Quito, Ecuador, on the equator to a cell with 185 people in Edmonton, Canada at 53.5 degrees north latitude. This is difficult because the area of the cell in Edmonton is only 35.5% of the area of a cell in Quito. The cell in Edmonton represents a density of 9,810 persons per square kilometer, while the cell in Quito only represents a density of 3,485 persons per square kilometer. Dataset SummaryEach cell in this layer has an integer value with the estimated number of people per square kilometer likely to live in the geographic region represented by that cell. Esri additionally produced several additional layers: World Population Estimate 2016: this layer contains estimates of the count of people living within the the area represented by the cell. World Population Estimate Confidence 2016: the confidence level (1-5) per cell for the probability of people being located and estimated correctly. World Settlement Score 2016: the dasymetric likelihood surface used to create this layer by apportioning population from census polygons to the settlement score raster.To use this layer in analysis, there are several properties or geoprocessing environment settings that should be used:Coordinate system: WGS_1984. This service and its underlying data are WGS_1984. We do this because projecting population count data actually will change the populations due to resampling and either collapsing or splitting cells to fit into another coordinate system. Cell Size: 0.0013474728 degrees (approximately 150-meters) at the equator. No Data: -1Bit Depth: 32-bit signedThis layer has query, identify, pixel, and export image functions enabled, and is restricted to a maximum analysis size of 30,000 x 30,000 pixels - an area about the size of Africa.Frye, C. et al., (2018). Using Classified and Unclassified Land Cover Data to Estimate the Footprint of Human Settlement. Data Science Journal. 17, p.20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/dsj-2018-020.What can you do with this layer?This layer is primarily intended for cartography and visualization, but may also be useful for analysis, particularly for estimating where people living above specified densities. There are two processing templates defined for this layer: the default, "World Population Estimated 2016 Density Classes" uses a classification, described above, to show locations of levels of rural and urban populations, and should be used for cartography and visualization; and "None," which provides access to the unclassified density values, and should be used for analysis. The breaks for the classes are at the following levels of persons per square kilometer:100 - Rural (3.2% [0.7%] of all people live at this density or lower) 400 - Settled (13.3% [4.1%] of all people live at this density or lower)1,908 - Urban (59.4% [81.1%] of all people live at this density or higher)16,978 - Heavy Urban (13.0% [24.2%] of all people live at this density or higher)26,331 - Extreme Urban (7.8% [15.4%] of all people live at this density or higher) Values over 50,000 are likely to be erroneous due to spatial inaccuracies in source boundary dataNote the above class breaks were derived from Esri's 2015 estimate, which have been maintained for the sake of comparison. The 2015 percentages are in gray brackets []. The differences are mostly due to improvements in the model and source data. While improvements in the source data will continue, it is hoped the 2017 estimate will produce percentages that shift less.For analysis, Esri recommends using the Zonal Statistics tool or the Zonal Statistics to Table tool where you provide input zones as either polygons, or raster data, and the tool will summarize the average, highest, or lowest density within those zones.

In the Cook Islands in 2024, the population decreased by about 2.24 percent compared to the previous year, making it the country with the highest population decline rate in 2024. Of the 20 countries with the highest rate of population decline, the majority are island nations, where emigration rates are high (especially to Australia, New Zealand, and the United States), or they are located in Eastern Europe, which suffers from a combination of high emigration rates and low birth rates.

The average for 2023 based on 53 countries was 0.34 percent. The highest value was in Nigeria: 2.81 percent and the lowest value was in Sao Tome and Principe: 0 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Associated with manuscript titled: Fifty Muslim-majority countries have fewer COVID-19 cases and deaths than the 50 richest non-Muslim countriesThe objective of this research was to determine the difference in the total number of COVID-19 cases and deaths between Muslim-majority and non-Muslim countries, and investigate reasons for the disparities. Methods: The 50 Muslim-majority countries had more than 50.0% Muslims with an average of 87.5%. The non-Muslim country sample consisted of 50 countries with the highest GDP while omitting any Muslim-majority countries listed. The non-Muslim countries’ average percentage of Muslims was 4.7%. Data pulled on September 18, 2020 included the percentage of Muslim population per country by World Population Review15 and GDP per country, population count, and total number of COVID-19 cases and deaths by Worldometers.16 The data set was transferred via an Excel spreadsheet on September 23, 2020 and analyzed. To measure COVID-19’s incidence in the countries, three different Average Treatment Methods (ATE) were used to validate the results. Results published as a preprint at https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/84zq5(15) Muslim Majority Countries 2020 [Internet]. Walnut (CA): World Population Review. 2020- [Cited 2020 Sept 28]. Available from: http://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/muslim-majority-countries (16) Worldometers.info. Worldometer. Dover (DE): Worldometer; 2020 [cited 2020 Sept 28]. Available from: http://worldometers.info