Which has higher population, Cook Islands or Nauru?

Cook Islands, at 14,244 people against 11,900 people in Nauru as of 2023.

What is the difference in population between Cook Islands and Nauru?

2,344 people, with Cook Islands ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Cook Islands and Nauru?

86 years are reported by both, from 1800 to 2023.

Where does this data come from?

HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Population. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Cook Islands vs Nauru: Population

Cook Islands

14,244 people

in 2023

Nauru

11,900 people

in 2023

Cook Islands rank

226th

Nauru rank

227th

Population over time

Cook Islands
Nauru

How they compare

Cook Islands currently reports 14,244 people against 11,900 people in Nauru, a difference of 2,344 people.

That makes Cook Islands's figure about 1.2 times Nauru's.

Across all 86 years both countries report, Cook Islands has been ahead every year.

Cook Islands ranks 226th and Nauru ranks 227th of 238 countries.

Cook Islands has averaged higher in every one of the 16 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Cook Islands	Nauru	Difference	Ahead
1800s	16,140 people	1,834 people	14,306 people	Cook Islands
1840s	17,000 people	1,871 people	15,129 people	Cook Islands
1850s	16,000 people	1,882 people	14,118 people	Cook Islands
1900s	8,567 people	1,923 people	6,644 people	Cook Islands
1910s	8,750 people	1,931 people	6,819 people	Cook Islands
1920s	9,750 people	2,256 people	7,494 people	Cook Islands
1930s	12,000 people	2,908 people	9,092 people	Cook Islands
1940s	14,000 people	3,111 people	10,889 people	Cook Islands
1950s	16,035 people	3,902 people	12,133 people	Cook Islands
1960s	18,811 people	5,622 people	13,189 people	Cook Islands
1970s	19,278 people	7,026 people	12,253 people	Cook Islands
1980s	17,104 people	8,514 people	8,590 people	Cook Islands
1990s	17,423 people	10,088 people	7,335 people	Cook Islands
2000s	15,469 people	10,086 people	5,383 people	Cook Islands
2010s	17,203 people	10,838 people	6,364 people	Cook Islands
2020s	14,965 people	11,778 people	3,186 people	Cook Islands

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher population, Cook Islands or Nauru?: Cook Islands, at 14,244 people against 11,900 people in Nauru as of 2023.
What is the difference in population between Cook Islands and Nauru?: 2,344 people, with Cook Islands ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Cook Islands and Nauru?: 86 years are reported by both, from 1800 to 2023.
How do Cook Islands and Nauru rank globally for population?: Cook Islands ranks 226th and Nauru ranks 227th of 238 countries.
Where does this data come from?: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Population. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator: Population
Unit: people
Source: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 239 places, 51,002 data points, 1000–2023
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Population by country, available from 10,000 BCE to 2023, based on data and estimates from different sources.