Historical population data by country
This dataset presents annual population data from 1961 by sex and five year age groups as well as the share of children, youth, the elderly, old-age and total dependency ratios. The data is available for all member countries as well as for the EU27 and G20 countries, Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia,...
What the numbers show
Historical population data is currently reported for 43 countries. The highest value is 1.46 billion Persons in India; the lowest is 391,879 Persons in Iceland.
The median across all reporting countries is 19.02 million Persons, and the mean is 146.71 million Persons.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 3,736.
Over the past decade 36 countries rose and 7 fell. The largest increase was in Malta (up 30.5%), and the largest decrease in Bulgaria (down 7.9%).
Historical population data: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | 1.46 billion Persons | 2025 | up 10.2% | rising |
| 2 | China | 1.42 billion Persons | 2025 | up 1.4% | rising |
| 3 | OECD | 1.41 billion Persons | 2025 | up 5.4% | rising |
| 4 | United States | 341.79 million Persons | 2025 | up 6.2% | rising |
| 5 | Indonesia | 284.44 million Persons | 2025 | up 8.6% | rising |
| 6 | Brazil | 219.03 million Persons | 2025 | up 7.6% | rising |
| 7 | Russian Federation | 145.40 million Persons | 2025 | down 1.1% | rising |
| 8 | Mexico | 133.37 million Persons | 2025 | up 9.0% | rising |
| 9 | Japan | 123.22 million Persons | 2025 | down 3.0% | rising |
| 10 | Germany | 83.52 million Persons | 2025 | up 2.2% | rising |
| 11 | United Kingdom | 69.50 million Persons | 2025 | up 6.8% | rising |
| 12 | France | 68.97 million Persons | 2025 | up 3.7% | rising |
| 13 | South Africa | 63.10 million Persons | 2025 | up 13.3% | rising |
| 14 | Italy | 58.94 million Persons | 2025 | down 2.1% | rising |
| 15 | Colombia | 53.11 million Persons | 2025 | up 14.7% | rising |
| 16 | Spain | 49.36 million Persons | 2025 | up 6.4% | rising |
| 17 | Argentina | 45.85 million Persons | 2025 | up 5.5% | rising |
| 18 | Canada | 41.65 million Persons | 2025 | up 16.7% | rising |
| 19 | Saudi Arabia | 35.93 million Persons | 2025 | up 20.5% | volatile |
| 20 | Australia | 27.61 million Persons | 2025 | up 15.9% | rising |
| 21 | Chile | 20.21 million Persons | 2025 | up 12.4% | rising |
| 22 | Romania | 19.02 million Persons | 2025 | down 4.0% | rising |
| 23 | Belgium | 11.85 million Persons | 2025 | up 5.4% | rising |
| 24 | Portugal | 11.41 million Persons | 2025 | up 9.9% | rising |
| 25 | Czechia | 10.89 million Persons | 2025 | up 3.3% | rising |
| 26 | Sweden | 10.59 million Persons | 2025 | up 8.2% | rising |
| 27 | Greece | 10.37 million Persons | 2025 | down 4.2% | rising |
| 28 | Israel | 9.87 million Persons | 2025 | up 17.7% | volatile |
| 29 | Hungary | 9.51 million Persons | 2025 | down 2.9% | flat |
| 30 | Austria | 9.21 million Persons | 2025 | up 6.8% | rising |
| 31 | Switzerland | 9.09 million Persons | 2025 | up 9.7% | rising |
| 32 | Bulgaria | 6.43 million Persons | 2025 | down 7.9% | falling |
| 33 | Denmark | 6.00 million Persons | 2025 | up 5.7% | rising |
| 34 | Finland | 5.64 million Persons | 2025 | up 3.0% | rising |
| 35 | Norway | 5.61 million Persons | 2025 | up 8.1% | rising |
| 36 | Ireland | 5.46 million Persons | 2025 | up 16.4% | rising |
| 37 | New Zealand | 5.32 million Persons | 2025 | up 15.4% | rising |
| 38 | Costa Rica | 5.25 million Persons | 2025 | up 7.9% | rising |
| 39 | Singapore | 4.20 million Persons | 2025 | up 7.7% | rising |
| 40 | Cyprus | 991,348 Persons | 2025 | up 15.0% | rising |
| 41 | Luxembourg | 686,458 Persons | 2025 | up 20.5% | rising |
| 42 | Malta | 579,660 Persons | 2025 | up 30.5% | rising |
| 43 | Iceland | 391,879 Persons | 2025 | up 20.8% | rising |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- World 8.23 billion Persons
- Korea 51.68 million Persons
- G20 5.00 billion Persons
- Poland 37.40 million Persons
- Netherlands 18.09 million Persons
- Slovak Republic 5.41 million Persons
- Croatia 3.88 million Persons
- Lithuania 2.89 million Persons
- Slovenia 2.13 million Persons
About this data
This dataset presents annual population data from 1961 by sex and five year age groups as well as the share of children, youth, the elderly, old-age and total dependency ratios. The data is available for all member countries as well as for the EU27 and G20 countries, Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa and the World total. The data refer to mid-year estimates of the population. See country details in Historical population metadata.