World Population by Country and Continent

Author: Ian C. Langtree - Writer/Editor for Disabled World (DW)
Published: 14 May 2017 - Updated: 13 Jun 2026
Publication Type: Informative

Contents: Synopsis - Definition - Introduction - Main - Insights, Updates - Related Publications

Synopsis: This information resource provides demographic reference data sourced from United Nations Population Division estimates, presenting population statistics for 233 countries and territories alongside continental breakdowns. The statistical tables prove valuable for researchers, policymakers, healthcare professionals, and accessibility advocates tracking demographic shifts that directly impact older adults and people with disabilities - notably the data showing over 46% of people aged 60 and older worldwide live with a disability, and that the 60+ age group grows at 3.26% annually. The comprehensive country rankings include population density, median age, and world share percentages, making this a practical tool for anyone analyzing how aging populations and disability prevalence intersect with geographic and resource distribution patterns.

At a Glance

1 - Antarctica is the least populated region on the planet, with a recorded population of just 4,490 people and a 0% share of the world total.
2 - Estimates suggest that between 106 and 108 billion humans have ever lived on Earth across the entire span of human history.
3 - Population density varies enormously, ranging from Monaco's crowded 25,510 people per square kilometer down to Greenland, whose vast icy landmass rounds its density down to 0.

Topic Definition: World Population: World population refers to the total number of human beings living on Earth at a given point in time, a figure compiled and estimated by demographic authorities such as the United Nations Population Division. It is most often expressed as a single global count, but it can also be broken down by continent, country, or territory and paired with related measures like population density, median age, and each nation's percentage share of the global total. Because birth rates, death rates, and migration are constantly in motion, the number is never truly fixed - it is a living estimate that demographers update regularly to track how humanity is growing, aging, and redistributing itself across the planet. Used by researchers, governments, and planners alike, world population data underpins decisions about everything from healthcare and infrastructure to resource allocation and long-term social policy.

Introduction

Researchers estimate that somewhere between 106 and 108 billion people have ever been born throughout human history. Of that vast total, the living population reached an estimated 8.1 to 8.2 billion as of 2025.

The United Nations (UN) expects world population numbers to; increase by 1 billion over the next 15 years, to increase to between 8.3 and 10.9 billion by 2050, and the global population is expected to reach 11.2 billion people in the year 2100. In 2016 the median age of the world's population was estimated to be 30.1 years, with the male median age estimated to be 29.4 years and female, 30.9 years of age.

China and India together constitute about 37% of the world's population - China currently has the largest population (1.4 billion), followed by India with 1.3 billion people. However, due to the higher population growth of India, population difference between India and China is changing. It is predicted that by the year 2028, India will be the world's most populated country with approximately 1.45 billion people.

Main Content

World Population Facts

More than half of the global population is urban.
50.4% of the world's population is male and 49.6% is female.
In 2013, some 232 million people were international migrants.
The last decade has seen more young people in the world than ever before.
Worldwide, more than 46% of people ages 60 and older live with a disability.
The world's population aged 60 or above is growing at a rate of 3.26% per year.
225 million women in developing countries want to avoid pregnancy but are not using modern contraceptives.
The world's population is growing by 1.18% per year, or approximately an additional 83 million people annually.
Women in sub-Saharan Africa are as likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth as women in nineteenth-century England.
The question of how many people the Planet can support is a long-standing one that becomes more intense as the world's population - and our use of natural resources - keeps booming.

Most Populated Continents
Rank	Continent	Population	% of World Pop.
1	Asia	4,436,224,000	59.69%
2	Africa	1,216,130,000	16.36%
3	Europe (Life Expectancy for U.K. Countries and Regions)	738,849,000	9.94%
4	North America	579,024,000	7.79%
5	South America	422,535,000	5.68%
6	Australia (Life Expectancy by Australian State and Territory)	39,901,000	0.54%
7	Antarctica	4,490	0%

World Population Chart by Country
Rank	Country	Population	Density (P/Km²)	Med. Age	World Share
1	China	1,388,232,693	148	37	0.185
2	India (Indian Life Expectancy by States)	1,342,512,706	452	27	0.179
3	United States (Life Expectancy by U.S. State)	326,474,013	36	38	0.043
4	Indonesia	263,510,146	146	28	0.035
5	Brazil	211,243,220	25	31	0.028
6	Pakistan	196,744,376	255	23	0.026
7	Nigeria	191,835,936	211	18	0.026
8	Bangladesh	164,827,718	1,266	26	0.022
9	Russia	143,375,006	9	39	0.019
10	Mexico	130,222,815	67	27	0.017
11	Japan	126,045,211	346	47	0.017
12	Ethiopia	104,344,901	104	19	0.014
13	Philippines	103,796,832	348	24	0.014
14	Viet Nam	95,414,640	308	30	0.013
15	Egypt	95,215,102	96	25	0.013
16	DR Congo	82,242,685	36	17	0.011
17	Iran	80,945,718	50	30	0.011
18	Germany	80,636,124	231	46	0.011
19	Turkey	80,417,526	105	30	0.011
20	Thailand	68,297,547	134	38	0.009
21	U.K.	65,511,098	271	40	0.009
22	France	64,938,716	119	41	0.009
23	Italy	59,797,978	203	46	0.008
24	Tanzania	56,877,529	64	17	0.008
25	South Africa	55,436,360	46	26	0.007
26	Myanmar	54,836,483	84	28	0.007
27	South Korea	50,704,971	522	41	0.007
28	Colombia	49,067,981	44	30	0.007
29	Kenya	48,466,928	85	19	0.006
30	Spain	46,070,146	92	43	0.006
31	Ukraine	44,405,055	77	40	0.006
32	Argentina	44,272,125	16	31	0.006
33	Sudan	42,166,323	24	19	0.006
34	Uganda	41,652,938	209	16	0.006
35	Algeria	41,063,753	17	28	0.005
36	Iraq	38,654,287	89	19	0.005
37	Poland	38,563,573	126	40	0.005
38	Canada (Life Expectancy by Canadian Province and Territory)	36,626,083	4	41	0.005
39	Morocco	35,241,418	79	28	0.005
40	Afghanistan	34,169,169	52	18	0.005
41	Saudi Arabia	32,742,664	15	28	0.004
42	Peru	32,166,473	25	28	0.004
43	Venezuela	31,925,705	36	27	0.004
44	Malaysia	31,164,177	95	29	0.004
45	Uzbekistan	30,690,914	72	26	0.004
46	Mozambique	29,537,914	38	17	0.004
47	Nepal	29,187,037	204	23	0.004
48	Ghana	28,656,723	126	21	0.004
49	Yemen	28,119,546	53	19	0.004
50	Angola	26,655,513	21	16	0.004
51	Madagascar	25,612,972	44	19	0.003
52	North Korea	25,405,296	211	34	0.003
53	Australia	24,641,662	3	38	0.003
54	Cameroon	24,513,689	52	19	0.003
55	Côte d'Ivoire	23,815,886	75	18	0.003
56	Taiwan	23,405,309	661	40	0.003
57	Niger	21,563,607	17	15	0.003
58	Sri Lanka	20,905,335	333	32	0.003
59	Romania	19,237,513	84	42	0.003
60	Burkina Faso	19,173,322	70	17	0.003
61	Syria	18,906,907	103	21	0.003
62	Mali	18,689,966	15	16	0.002
63	Chile	18,313,495	25	34	0.002
64	Malawi	18,298,679	194	17	0.002
65	Kazakhstan	18,064,470	7	29	0.002
66	Zambia	17,237,931	23	17	0.002
67	Netherlands	17,032,845	505	43	0.002
68	Guatemala	17,005,497	159	21	0.002
69	Ecuador	16,625,776	67	27	0.002
70	Zimbabwe	16,337,760	42	19	0.002
71	Cambodia	16,076,370	91	24	0.002
72	Senegal	16,054,275	83	18	0.002
73	Chad	14,965,482	12	16	0.002
74	Guinea	13,290,659	54	19	0.002
75	South Sudan	13,096,190	21	19	0.002
76	Rwanda	12,159,586	493	19	0.002
77	Burundi	11,936,481	465	18	0.002
78	Tunisia	11,494,760	74	31	0.002
79	Benin	11,458,611	102	19	0.002
80	Belgium	11,443,830	378	42	0.002
81	Somalia	11,391,962	18	17	0.002
82	Cuba	11,390,184	107	41	0.002
83	Bolivia	11,052,864	10	24	0.001
84	Haiti	10,983,274	399	23	0.001
85	Greece	10,892,931	85	44	0.001
86	Dominican Republic	10,766,564	223	26	0.001
87	Czech Republic	10,555,130	137	42	0.001
88	Portugal	10,264,797	112	44	0.001
89	Azerbaijan	9,973,697	121	31	0.001
90	Sweden	9,920,624	24	41	0.001
91	Hungary	9,787,905	108	41	0.001
92	Belarus	9,458,535	47	40	0.001
93	United Arab Emirates	9,397,599	112	33	0.001
94	Tajikistan	8,858,115	63	23	0.001
95	Serbia	8,776,940	100	41	0.001
96	Austria	8,592,400	104	43	0.001
97	Switzerland	8,454,083	214	42	0.001
98	Israel	8,323,248	385	30	0.001
99	Honduras	8,304,677	74	23	0.001
100	Papua New Guinea	7,933,841	18	21	0.001
101	Jordan	7,876,703	89	23	0.001
102	Togo	7,691,915	141	19	0.001
103	Hong Kong	7,401,941	7,050	43	0.001
104	Bulgaria	7,045,259	65	44	0.001
105	Laos	7,037,521	31	22	0.001
106	Paraguay	6,811,583	17	25	0.001
107	Sierra Leone	6,732,899	93	19	0.001
108	Libya	6,408,742	4	28	0.001
109	Nicaragua	6,217,796	52	25	0.001
110	El Salvador	6,167,147	298	27	0.001
111	Kyrgyzstan	6,124,945	32	25	0.001
112	Lebanon	6,039,277	590	29	0.001
113	Singapore	5,784,538	8,264	40	0.001
114	Denmark	5,711,837	135	42	0.001
115	Finland	5,541,274	18	43	0.001
116	Turkmenistan	5,502,586	12	26	0.001
117	Eritrea	5,481,906	54	19	0.001
118	Slovakia	5,432,157	113	39	0.001
119	Norway	5,330,800	15	39	0.001
120	Central African Republic	5,098,826	8	20	0.001
121	State of Palestine	4,928,225	819	19	0.001
122	Costa Rica	4,905,626	96	31	0.001
123	Congo	4,866,243	14	19	0.001
124	Ireland	4,749,153	69	37	0.001
125	Oman	4,741,305	15	29	0.001
126	Liberia	4,730,437	49	19	0.001
127	New Zealand	4,604,871	18	38	0.001
128	Mauritania	4,266,448	4	20	0.001
129	Croatia	4,209,815	75	43	0.001
130	Kuwait	4,099,932	230	31	0.001
131	Moldova	4,054,640	123	36	0.001
132	Panama	4,051,284	55	29	0.001
133	Georgia	3,972,532	57	38	0.001
134	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3,792,759	74	42	0.001
135	Puerto Rico	3,679,086	415	36	0
136	Uruguay	3,456,877	20	35	0
137	Mongolia	3,051,900	2	27	0
138	Armenia	3,031,670	107	35	0
139	Albania	2,911,428	106	34	0
140	Lithuania	2,830,582	45	43	0
141	Jamaica	2,813,285	260	29	0
142	Namibia	2,568,569	3	21	0
143	Botswana	2,343,981	4	24	0
144	Qatar	2,338,085	201	31	0
145	Lesotho	2,185,159	72	21	0
146	Gambia	2,120,418	210	17	0
147	TFYR Macedonia	2,083,308	83	38	0
148	Slovenia	2,071,252	103	43	0
149	Latvia	1,944,565	31	43	0
150	Guinea-Bissau	1,932,871	69	19	0
151	Gabon	1,801,232	7	21	0
152	Bahrain	1,418,895	1,867	30	0
153	Trinidad and Tobago	1,369,157	267	34	0
154	Swaziland	1,320,356	77	21	0
155	Estonia	1,305,755	31	42	0
156	Mauritius	1,281,353	631	35	0
157	Timor-Leste	1,237,251	83	19	0
158	Cyprus	1,187,575	129	36	0
159	Djibouti	911,382	39	24	0
160	Fiji	902,547	49	28	0
161	Equatorial Guinea	894,464	32	21	0
162	Réunion	873,356	349	34	0
163	Comoros	825,920	444	20	0
164	Bhutan	792,877	21	27	0
165	Guyana	774,407	4	25	0
166	Montenegro	626,250	47	38	0
167	Macao	606,384	20,280	38	0
168	Solomon Islands	606,215	22	20	0
169	Western Sahara	596,021	2	29	0
170	Luxembourg	584,103	226	39	0
171	Suriname	552,112	4	29	0
172	Cabo Verde	533,468	132	25	0
173	Guadeloupe	472,462	280	39	0
174	Brunei	434,448	82	31	0
175	Malta	420,521	1,314	42	0
176	Bahamas	397,164	40	32	0
177	Martinique	396,071	374	46	0
178	Maldives	375,867	1,253	26	0
179	Belize	374,651	16	24	0
180	Iceland	334,303	3	36	0
181	French Polynesia	288,685	79	32	0
182	Barbados	285,744	665	39	0
183	French Guiana	282,761	3	25	0
184	Vanuatu	276,331	23	22	0
185	New Caledonia	269,736	15	33	0
186	Mayotte	253,068	675	19	0
187	Sao Tome and Principe	198,481	207	19	0
188	Samoa	195,743	69	21	0
189	Saint Lucia	187,768	308	31	0
190	Guam	174,214	323	30	0
191	Channel Islands	165,235	870	43	0
192	Curaçao	159,987	360	41	0
193	Kiribati	116,405	144	22	0
194	St. Vincent & Grenadines	109,895	282	30	0
195	Grenada	107,850	317	27	0
196	Tonga	107,797	150	21	0
197	United States Virgin Islands	106,574	305	41	0
198	Micronesia	105,566	151	22	0
199	Aruba	104,588	581	40	0
200	Seychelles	97,539	212	33	0
201	Antigua and Barbuda	93,659	213	31	0
202	Isle of Man	89,045	156	N.A.	0
203	Dominica	73,353	98	N.A.	0
204	Andorra	68,728	146	N.A.	0
205	Cayman Islands	61,557	257	N.A.	0
206	Bermuda	61,352	1,227	N.A.	0
207	Saint Kitts and Nevis	56,780	218	N.A.	0
208	Greenland	56,239	0	N.A.	0
209	American Samoa	55,653	278	N.A.	0
210	Northern Mariana Islands	55,567	121	N.A.	0
211	Marshall Islands	53,132	295	N.A.	0
212	Faeroe Islands	48,335	35	N.A.	0
213	Sint Maarten	40,117	1,180	N.A.	0
214	Liechtenstein	38,022	238	N.A.	0
215	Monaco	38,010	25,510	N.A.	0
216	Turks and Caicos Islands	35,442	37	N.A.	0
217	Gibraltar	32,472	3,247	N.A.	0
218	San Marino	32,104	535	N.A.	0
219	British Virgin Islands	31,200	208	N.A.	0
220	Caribbean Netherlands	25,699	78	N.A.	0
221	Palau	21,726	47	N.A.	0
222	Cook Islands	21,069	88	N.A.	0
223	Anguilla	14,906	166	N.A.	0
224	Wallis and Futuna	13,090	94	N.A.	0
225	Nauru	10,301	515	N.A.	0
226	Tuvalu	9,975	333	N.A.	0
227	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	6,319	28	N.A.	0
228	Montserrat	5,179	52	N.A.	0
229	Saint Helena	3,970	10	N.A.	0
230	Falkland Islands	2,919	0	N.A.	0
231	Niue	1,614	6	N.A.	0
232	Tokelau	1,300	130	N.A.	0
233	Holy See	801	1,821	N.A.	0

Population table includes countries and dependent territories. Statistics are based on the latest United Nations Population Division estimates.

Insights, Analysis, and Developments

Editorial Note: As global demographics shift toward older populations, particularly in developed nations where median ages approach the mid-40s, the intersection of aging and disability becomes increasingly critical to social planning. The statistics here reveal stark contrasts - from Monaco's population density of 25,510 people per square kilometer to Greenland's near-zero density - yet what binds these disparate regions is a universal truth: as populations age, the proportion living with disabilities rises substantially. Understanding these demographic patterns helps governments, healthcare systems, and communities prepare infrastructure, services, and support systems that address the needs of aging populations. The data showing rapid growth in the 60+ demographic, combined with the high disability prevalence in this age group, underscores why accessibility planning can no longer be treated as an afterthought but must become central to how we design our societies for the decades ahead.

👁 Ian C. Langtree
Author Credentials: Ian is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Disabled World, a leading resource for news and information on disability issues. With a global perspective shaped by years of travel and lived experience, Ian is a committed proponent of the Social Model of Disability-a transformative framework developed by disabled activists in the 1970s that emphasizes dismantling societal barriers rather than focusing solely on individual impairments. His work reflects a deep commitment to disability rights, accessibility, and social inclusion. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and accomplishments, visit his full biography.

URL: https://www.disabled-world.com/calculators-charts/wpc.php