The World’s Most Populous Countries
Quick Summary Audio The World’s Most Populous Countries (1973–2023) Humankind is now double the size it was in 1973. Of course, that growth has been far from uniform, and the ranking of the world’s most populous countries continues to evolve. Using the latest data available from
The World’s Most Populous Countries (1973–2023)
Humankind is now double the size it was in 1973. Of course, that growth has been far from uniform, and the ranking of the world’s most populous countries continues to evolve. Using the latest data available from the United Nations, we’ve looked at which countries have the largest share of the planet’s eight billion people.
The Top 10 Most Populous Countries
Country
Population (1973)
Population (2023)
Change (1973–2023)
🇨🇳 China
881,652,084
1,425,671,353
544,019,269
🇨🇳,🇮🇳 India
596,107,487
1,428,627,666
832,520,179
🇮🇳,🇺🇸 United States
207,314,772
339,996,567
132,681,795
🇺🇸,🇷🇺 Russia
132,191,636
144,444,360
12,252,724
🇷🇺,🇮🇩 Indonesia
124,709,060
277,534,118
152,825,058
🇮🇩,🇯🇵 Japan
109,679,473
123,294,516
13,615,043
🇯🇵,🇧🇷 Brazil
103,666,906
216,422,450
112,755,544
🇧🇷,🇩🇪 Germany
78,667,473
83,294,634
4,627,161
🇩🇪,🇧🇩 Bangladesh
71,144,816
172,954,325
101,809,509
🇧🇩,🇵🇰 Pakistan
64,285,630
240,485,666
176,200,036
🇵🇰,🇳🇬 Nigeria
59,605,450
223,804,636
164,199,186
🇳🇬,🇲🇽 Mexico
55,228,202
128,455,563
73,227,361
The numbers above highlight the extreme variance in growth for these world’s most populous countries. While Germany has grown by just 6% over the past 50 years, Pakistan and Nigeria have nearly quadrupled their populations. Half a century ago, there were only six countries with populations of over 100 million. Today, there are 15 countries past that mark, with Vietnam positioned to hit that milestone next.
The Top 20 Most Populous Countries
Things get even more interesting when we examine the top 20 most populous countries over the same time period.
Country
Population (1973)
Rank (1973)
Population (2023)
Rank (2023)
🇨🇳,🇨🇳 China
881,652,084
1
1,425,671,353
2
🇨🇳,🇮🇳,🇨🇳,🇮🇳 India
596,107,487
2
1,428,627,666
1
🇮🇳,🇺🇸,🇮🇳,🇺🇸 United States
207,314,772
3
339,996,567
3
🇺🇸,🇷🇺,🇺🇸,🇷🇺 Russia
132,191,636
4
144,444,360
9
🇷🇺,🇮🇩,🇷🇺,🇮🇩 Indonesia
124,709,060
5
277,534,118
4
🇮🇩,🇯🇵,🇮🇩,🇯🇵 Japan
109,679,473
6
123,294,516
12
🇯🇵,🇧🇷,🇯🇵,🇧🇷 Brazil
103,666,906
7
216,422,450
7
🇧🇷,🇩🇪,🇧🇷,🇩🇪 Germany
78,667,473
8
83,294,634
19
🇩🇪,🇧🇩,🇩🇪,🇧🇩 Bangladesh
71,144,816
9
172,954,325
8
🇧🇩,🇵🇰,🇧🇩,🇵🇰 Pakistan
64,285,630
10
240,485,666
5
🇵🇰,🇳🇬,🇵🇰,🇳🇬 Nigeria
59,605,450
11
223,804,636
6
🇳🇬,🇲🇽,🇳🇬,🇬🇧 United Kingdom
56,166,630
12
67,736,798
21
🇲🇽,🇬🇧,🇲🇽 Mexico
55,228,202
13
128,455,563
10
🇲🇽,🇮🇹 Italy
54,379,587
14
58,870,763
25
🇮🇹,🇫🇷 France
51,814,077
15
64,756,586
23
🇫🇷,🇺🇦 Ukraine
48,301,548
16
36,744,635
41
🇺🇦,🇻🇳 Vietnam
44,891,286
17
98,858,947
16
🇻🇳,🇵🇭 Philippines
40,406,232
18
117,337,366
13
🇵🇭,🇹🇭 Thailand
38,873,065
19
71,801,281
20
🇹🇭,🇹🇷 Turkey
38,028,236
20
85,816,192
18
🇹🇷,🇪🇬 Egypt
37,120,778
21
112,716,599
14
🇪🇬,🇮🇷 Iran
30,981,903
25
89,172,768
17
🇮🇷,🇪🇹 Ethiopia
30,694,321
26
126,527,064
11
🇪🇹,🇨🇩 DRC
21,853,908
32
102,262,812
15
Looking back 50 years ago, Nigeria was the lone African nation in the top 20. Today, it is joined by Ethiopia, Egypt, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – all of which have experienced staggering population growth. African nations are expected to lead population growth over the next few decades. By 2100, one quarter of the world’s people are expected to be African.
Europe is the flip side of this equation. Back in 1973, there were six European countries in this top list. Today, only Russia and Germany remain, with the latter country soon to fall out of the top 20 ranking. Ukraine, which was shrinking, is expected to fall to at least 41st place due to the turmoil surrounding the Russian invasion of the country. Since the invasion began in February 2022, nearly 14 million border crossings have been recorded from Ukraine to other countries.
How Big Will Populations Get?
Once India becomes the world’s largest country, it will likely remain so for many decades in the future, peaking in the 2060s (unless there are substantial changes in projected growth rates). India’s peak population will stand at around 1.7 billion people.
The world’s population is expected to peak later, around the 2080s. Humanity’s peak population is expected to be about 10.5 billon.
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