What is the difference in the global population hockey stick between Botswana and Gambia?

217,610 people, with Gambia ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Botswana and Gambia?

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 The global population hockey stick. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Botswana vs Gambia: The global population hockey stick

Botswana

2.48 million people

in 2023

Gambia

2.70 million people

in 2023

Botswana rank

147th

Gambia rank

145th

The global population hockey stick over time

Botswana
Gambia

How they compare

Gambia currently reports 2.70 million people against 2.48 million people in Botswana, a difference of 217,610 people.

That makes Gambia's figure about 1.1 times Botswana's.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 241 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Botswana ahead.

Botswana ranks 147th and Gambia ranks 145th of 239 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, Botswana averaged higher in 31 and Gambia in 9.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Botswana	Gambia	Difference	Ahead
1000s	60,640 people	1,798 people	58,842 people	Botswana
1100s	65,132 people	2,055 people	63,077 people	Botswana
1200s	69,956 people	2,348 people	67,608 people	Botswana
1300s	75,138 people	2,684 people	72,454 people	Botswana
1400s	80,704 people	3,067 people	77,637 people	Botswana
1500s	86,682 people	3,506 people	83,176 people	Botswana
1600s	93,103 people	4,006 people	89,097 people	Botswana
1700s	100,000 people	4,579 people	95,421 people	Botswana
1710s	102,013 people	4,134 people	97,879 people	Botswana
1720s	103,479 people	3,733 people	99,746 people	Botswana
1730s	105,031 people	3,370 people	101,661 people	Botswana
1740s	106,680 people	3,043 people	103,637 people	Botswana
1750s	108,436 people	2,748 people	105,688 people	Botswana
1760s	110,311 people	2,481 people	107,830 people	Botswana
1770s	112,321 people	2,240 people	110,081 people	Botswana
1780s	114,483 people	2,022 people	112,461 people	Botswana
1790s	116,820 people	1,826 people	114,994 people	Botswana
1800s	118,954 people	103,274 people	15,680 people	Botswana
1810s	114,516 people	103,280 people	11,237 people	Botswana
1820s	110,243 people	104,574 people	5,669 people	Botswana
1830s	106,129 people	107,438 people	1,309 people	Gambia
1840s	102,196 people	110,412 people	8,216 people	Gambia
1850s	104,823 people	115,500 people	10,677 people	Gambia
1860s	115,742 people	123,356 people	7,613 people	Gambia
1870s	127,935 people	133,598 people	5,663 people	Gambia
1880s	141,411 people	146,974 people	5,563 people	Gambia
1890s	156,328 people	160,244 people	3,916 people	Gambia
1900s	177,938 people	172,882 people	5,056 people	Botswana
1910s	208,411 people	185,630 people	22,780 people	Botswana
1920s	249,371 people	205,774 people	43,597 people	Botswana
1930s	305,713 people	237,570 people	68,143 people	Botswana
1940s	371,683 people	278,153 people	93,530 people	Botswana
1950s	458,954 people	345,412 people	113,542 people	Botswana
1960s	560,811 people	451,344 people	109,467 people	Botswana
1970s	718,061 people	601,517 people	116,544 people	Botswana
1980s	1.10 million people	850,451 people	252,963 people	Botswana
1990s	1.48 million people	1.24 million people	234,978 people	Botswana
2000s	1.83 million people	1.65 million people	176,140 people	Botswana
2010s	2.19 million people	2.19 million people	6,480 people	Gambia
2020s	2.42 million people	2.61 million people	184,648 people	Gambia

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher the global population hockey stick, Botswana or Gambia?: Gambia, at 2.70 million people against 2.48 million people in Botswana as of 2023.
What is the difference in the global population hockey stick between Botswana and Gambia?: 217,610 people, with Gambia ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Botswana and Gambia?: 241 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2023.
How do Botswana and Gambia rank globally for the global population hockey stick?: Botswana ranks 147th and Gambia ranks 145th of 239 countries.
Where does this data come from?: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as The global population hockey stick. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Botswana vs Gambia: The global population hockey stick. Statizoid, drawing on HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 06 September 2026, from https://population.statizoid.com/compare/world-population-over-the-last-12000-years-and-un-projection-until-2100/botswana/gambia-the/

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<a href="https://population.statizoid.com/compare/world-population-over-the-last-12000-years-and-un-projection-until-2100/botswana/gambia-the/">Botswana vs Gambia: The global population hockey stick</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: The global population hockey stick
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: 28 August 2026

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