What is the difference in population between Hong Kong and Laos?

222,260 people, with Laos ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Hong Kong and Laos?

241 years are reported by both, from 1000 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.

Hong Kong vs Laos: Population

Hong Kong

7.44 million people

in 2023

Laos

7.67 million people

in 2023

Hong Kong rank

104th

Laos rank

103rd

Population over time

Hong Kong
Laos

How they compare

Laos currently reports 7.67 million people against 7.44 million people in Hong Kong, a difference of 222,260 people.

The two have swapped places 4 times across 241 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Laos ahead.

Hong Kong ranks 104th and Laos ranks 103rd of 238 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, Hong Kong averaged higher in 11 and Laos in 29.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Hong Kong	Laos	Difference	Ahead
1000s	179,978 people	242,857 people	62,879 people	Laos
1100s	443,565 people	274,285 people	169,280 people	Hong Kong
1200s	506,955 people	305,714 people	201,241 people	Hong Kong
1300s	13,463 people	337,142 people	323,679 people	Laos
1400s	13,150 people	368,571 people	355,421 people	Laos
1500s	12,844 people	400,000 people	387,156 people	Laos
1600s	12,545 people	500,000 people	487,455 people	Laos
1700s	12,254 people	600,000 people	587,746 people	Laos
1710s	12,764 people	610,000 people	597,236 people	Laos
1720s	13,296 people	620,000 people	606,704 people	Laos
1730s	13,850 people	630,000 people	616,150 people	Laos
1740s	14,427 people	640,000 people	625,573 people	Laos
1750s	15,028 people	650,000 people	634,972 people	Laos
1760s	15,655 people	660,000 people	644,345 people	Laos
1770s	16,307 people	670,000 people	653,693 people	Laos
1780s	16,986 people	680,000 people	663,014 people	Laos
1790s	17,694 people	690,000 people	672,306 people	Laos
1800s	20,000 people	470,000 people	450,000 people	Laos
1810s	20,274 people	470,090 people	449,816 people	Laos
1820s	22,030 people	491,063 people	469,034 people	Laos
1830s	25,637 people	539,503 people	513,867 people	Laos
1840s	31,870 people	593,149 people	561,279 people	Laos
1850s	50,245 people	648,315 people	598,070 people	Laos
1860s	89,849 people	703,822 people	613,973 people	Laos
1870s	139,424 people	813,442 people	674,017 people	Laos
1880s	186,619 people	1.01 million people	821,541 people	Laos
1890s	256,971 people	1.25 million people	992,609 people	Laos
1900s	367,403 people	1.34 million people	976,672 people	Laos
1910s	529,548 people	1.17 million people	639,346 people	Laos
1920s	706,487 people	961,814 people	255,328 people	Laos
1930s	1.10 million people	893,751 people	209,474 people	Hong Kong
1940s	1.70 million people	1.25 million people	448,366 people	Hong Kong
1950s	2.45 million people	1.87 million people	570,621 people	Hong Kong
1960s	3.27 million people	2.36 million people	911,146 people	Hong Kong
1970s	4.36 million people	2.96 million people	1.40 million people	Hong Kong
1980s	5.31 million people	3.71 million people	1.60 million people	Hong Kong
1990s	6.09 million people	4.85 million people	1.24 million people	Hong Kong
2000s	6.89 million people	5.83 million people	1.06 million people	Hong Kong
2010s	7.32 million people	6.77 million people	551,719 people	Hong Kong
2020s	7.47 million people	7.51 million people	35,060 people	Laos

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher population, Hong Kong or Laos?: Laos, at 7.67 million people against 7.44 million people in Hong Kong as of 2023.
What is the difference in population between Hong Kong and Laos?: 222,260 people, with Laos ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Hong Kong and Laos?: 241 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2023.
How do Hong Kong and Laos rank globally for population?: Hong Kong ranks 104th and Laos ranks 103rd 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.