World Bank Data · 212 countries

Fastest Growing Countries by Population

Source·World Bank Open DataUpdated·Apr 12, 2026Reviewed by·Population Review Data Team

Raw data·Download countries.csv· no email required ·all datasets

Population growth rates reveal which countries are expanding fastest and which are shrinking. The fastest-growing countries are predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, where high fertility rates, improving healthcare (reducing mortality without yet reducing births), and young populations create momentum for continued growth. Niger, with a growth rate exceeding 3% annually, could double its population in just 23 years. Rapid growth creates enormous pressure on education, healthcare, housing, employment, and natural resources. Conversely, countries like Japan, Italy, and South Korea are experiencing population decline, facing labor shortages, shrinking consumer markets, and unsustainable pension obligations. The demographic divide between rapidly growing developing nations and shrinking wealthy nations is reshaping global economics, migration patterns, and geopolitical power.

Key Findings

1Oman leads with a population growth rate of 6.53%, followed by Kuwait (5.59%) and Syrian Arab Republic (4.92%).
2The gap between #1 Oman and #212 Ukraine (-8.42%) is 1495.0 percentage points.
3The national median across all states is 0.99% (Netherlands at the midpoint).
4The top 10 states are: Oman, Kuwait, Syrian Arab Republic, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Chad, South Sudan, Malta, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain.

Full Ranking: Fastest Growing Countries by Population

Source: Census ACS 5-Year Estimates

#	Country	Growth Rate	Population	Fertility Rate
1	Zimbabwe	1.7	16,340,822	3.7
2	Zambia	2.8	20,723,965	4.1
3	Yemen, Rep.	3	39,390,799	4.6
4	Virgin Islands (U.S.)	-0.5	104,917	2
5	Viet Nam	0.7	100,352,192	1.9
6	Venezuela, RB	0.3	28,300,854	2.1
7	Vanuatu	2.3	320,409	3.6
8	Uzbekistan	2	35,652,307	3.5
9	Uruguay	-0.1	3,388,081	1.4
10	United States	0.8	336,806,231	1.6
11	United Kingdom	1.3	68,492,000	1.6
12	United Arab Emirates	4	10,483,751	1.2
13	Ukraine	-8.4	37,732,836	1
14	Uganda	2.8	48,656,601	4.3
15	Tuvalu	-1.8	9,816	3.2
16	Turks and Caicos Islands	0.8	46,198	1.5
17	Turkmenistan	1.8	7,364,438	2.7
18	Turkiye	0.4	85,325,965	1.5
19	Tunisia	0.7	12,200,431	1.8
20	Trinidad and Tobago	0.1	1,367,510	1.5
21	Tonga	-0.4	104,597	3.1
22	Togo	2.3	9,304,337	4.2
23	Timor-Leste	1.1	1,384,286	2.7
24	Thailand	-0	71,702,435	1.2
25	Tanzania	2.9	66,617,606	4.6
26	Tajikistan	2	10,389,799	3.1
27	Taiwan	-0.2	23,400,000	0.9
28	Syrian Arab Republic	4.9	23,594,623	2.7
29	Switzerland	1.3	8,888,822	1.3
30	Sweden	0.5	10,536,632	1.5
31	Suriname	0.9	628,886	2.2
32	Sudan	1.3	50,042,791	4.3
33	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	-0.7	101,323	1.8
34	St. Martin (French part)	-4.8	27,515	2.7
35	St. Lucia	0.3	179,285	1.4
36	St. Kitts and Nevis	0.1	46,758	1.5
37	Sri Lanka	-0.7	22,037,000	2
38	Spain	1.2	48,352,528	1.1
39	South Sudan	4.1	11,483,374	3.9
40	South Africa	1.3	63,212,384	2.2
41	Somalia, Fed. Rep.	3.1	18,358,615	6.1
42	Solomon Islands	2.4	800,005	3.6
43	Slovenia	0.4	2,120,461	1.5
44	Slovak Republic	-0.1	5,426,740	1.5
45	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	1.4	42,749	1.4
46	Singapore	4.9	5,917,648	1
47	Sierra Leone	2.2	8,460,512	3.8
48	Seychelles	-0.1	119,773	2.2
49	Serbia	-0.6	6,623,183	1.6
50	Senegal	2.4	18,077,573	3.8
51	Saudi Arabia	4.6	33,702,731	2.3
52	Sao Tome and Principe	2	230,871	3.6
53	San Marino	0.3	33,860	1.1
54	Samoa	0.6	216,663	3.8
55	Rwanda	2.2	13,954,471	3.7
56	Russian Federation	-0.3	143,826,130	1.4
57	Romania	0.1	19,061,062	1.5
58	Qatar	-0	2,656,032	1.7
59	Puerto Rico (US)	-0.5	3,203,792	0.9
60	Portugal	1.4	10,578,174	1.5
61	Poland	-0.4	36,687,353	1.2
62	Philippines	0.8	114,891,199	1.9
63	Peru	1.1	33,845,617	2
64	Paraguay	1.2	6,844,146	2.4
65	Papua New Guinea	1.8	10,389,635	3.1
66	Panama	1.3	4,458,759	2.1
67	Palau	-0.2	17,727	1.9
68	Pakistan	1.5	247,504,495	3.6
69	Oman	6.5	5,049,269	2.5
70	Norway	1.1	5,519,601	1.4
71	Northern Mariana Islands	-2.1	45,143	2.3
72	North Macedonia	-0.2	1,827,816	1.5
73	Nigeria	2.1	227,882,945	4.5
74	Niger	3.3	26,159,867	6.1
75	Nicaragua	1.4	6,823,613	2.2
76	New Zealand	2.3	5,200,000	1.6
77	New Caledonia	1	289,870	2
78	Netherlands	1	17,877,117	1.4
79	Nepal	-0.1	29,694,614	2
80	Nauru	0.6	11,875	3.3
81	Namibia	2.5	2,963,095	3.2
82	Myanmar	0.7	54,133,798	2.1
83	Mozambique	3	33,635,160	4.8
84	Morocco	1	37,712,505	2.2
85	Montenegro	-0	623,529	1.7
86	Mongolia	1.4	3,481,145	2.7
87	Monaco	0.1	38,956	2.1
88	Moldova	-2.8	2,457,783	1.7
89	Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	0.5	112,630	2.7
90	Mexico	0.9	129,739,759	1.9
91	Mauritius	-1.1	1,248,647	1.4
92	Mauritania	3	5,022,441	4.7
93	Marshall Islands	-3.2	38,827	2.9
94	Malta	4	552,747	1.1
95	Mali	3	23,769,127	5.6
96	Maldives	0.4	525,994	1.6
97	Malaysia	1.2	35,126,298	1.6
98	Malawi	2.6	21,104,482	3.6
99	Madagascar	2.5	31,195,932	4
100	Luxembourg	2	666,430	1.3
101	Lithuania	1.4	2,871,585	1.2
102	Liechtenstein	0.9	39,846	1.5
103	Libya	1.1	7,305,659	2.4
104	Liberia	2.2	5,493,031	4
105	Lesotho	1.1	2,311,472	2.7
106	Lebanon	0.5	5,773,493	2.2
107	Latvia	0.2	1,883,710	1.4
108	Lao PDR	1.4	7,664,993	2.4
109	Kyrgyz Republic	1.8	7,099,750	2.7
110	Kuwait	5.6	4,853,420	1.5
111	Kosovo	-5	1,682,668	1.5
112	Korea, Rep.	0.1	51,712,619	0.7
113	Korea, Dem. People's Rep.	0.3	26,418,204	1.8
114	Kiribati	1.6	132,530	3.1
115	Kenya	2	55,339,003	3.2
116	Kazakhstan	1.5	20,330,104	3
117	Jordan	1.6	11,439,213	2.6
118	Japan	-0.5	124,516,650	1.2
119	Jamaica	0	2,839,786	1.4
120	Italy	-0	58,984,216	1.2
121	Isle of Man	0	84,165	1.5
122	Ireland	1.9	5,311,538	1.5
123	Iraq	2.3	45,074,049	3.2
124	Iran, Islamic Rep.	1.2	90,608,707	1.7
125	Indonesia	0.8	281,190,067	2.1
126	India	0.9	1,438,069,596	2
127	Iceland	1	385,663	1.6
128	Hungary	-0.1	9,592,186	1.6
129	Honduras	1.7	10,644,851	2.5
130	Haiti	1.2	11,637,398	2.7
131	Guyana	0.6	826,353	2.4
132	Guinea-Bissau	2.2	2,153,339	3.8
133	Guinea	2.5	14,405,468	4.2
134	Guatemala	1.5	18,124,838	2.3
135	Guam	0.8	166,506	2.8
136	Grenada	0.1	117,081	1.5
137	Greenland	0.4	56,865	1.8
138	Greece	-0.3	10,407,351	1.3
139	Ghana	1.9	33,787,914	3.4
140	Germany	0.1	83,287,273	1.4
141	Georgia	0.1	3,715,483	1.8
142	Gambia, The	2.3	2,697,845	4
143	Gabon	2.2	2,484,789	3.6
144	French Polynesia	0.3	281,118	1.5
145	France	0.3	68,372,286	1.7
146	Finland	0.5	5,583,911	1.3
147	Fiji	0.5	924,145	2.3
148	Faroe Islands	0.9	54,414	1.9
149	Ethiopia	2.6	128,691,692	4
150	Eswatini	0.9	1,230,506	2.8
151	Estonia	1.6	1,370,286	1.3
152	Eritrea	1.8	3,470,390	3.7
153	Equatorial Guinea	2.4	1,847,549	4.1
154	El Salvador	0.5	6,309,624	1.8
155	Egypt, Arab Rep.	1.7	114,535,772	2.8
156	Ecuador	0.9	17,980,083	1.8
157	Dominican Republic	0.9	11,331,265	2.2
158	Dominica	-0.5	66,510	1.5
159	Djibouti	1.4	1,152,944	2.6
160	Denmark	0.7	5,946,952	1.5
161	Czechia	1.8	10,864,042	1.5
162	Cyprus	1	1,344,976	1.4
163	Curacao	0.9	154,654	1.3
164	Cuba	-0.4	11,019,931	1.4
165	Croatia	0.1	3,859,686	1.5
166	Cote d'Ivoire	2.5	31,165,654	4.3
167	Costa Rica	0.5	5,105,525	1.3
168	Congo, Rep.	2.4	6,182,885	4.2
169	Congo, Dem. Rep.	3.3	105,789,731	6.1
170	Comoros	1.9	850,387	3.9
171	Colombia	1.1	52,321,152	1.6
172	China	-0.1	1,410,710,000	1
173	Chile	0.5	19,658,835	1.2
174	Chad	4.6	19,319,064	6.1
175	Central African Republic	1.1	5,152,421	6
176	Cayman Islands	2	73,038	1.5
177	Canada	2.9	40,083,484	1.3
178	Cameroon	2.6	28,372,687	4.3
179	Cambodia	1.3	17,423,880	2.6
180	Cabo Verde	0.5	522,331	1.5
181	Burundi	2.7	13,689,450	4.9
182	Burkina Faso	2.3	23,025,776	4.2
183	Bulgaria	-0.3	6,446,596	1.8
184	Brunei Darussalam	0.8	458,949	1.7
185	British Virgin Islands	1.7	38,985	1
186	Brazil	0.4	211,140,729	1.6
187	Botswana	1.6	2,480,244	2.7
188	Bosnia and Herzegovina	-0.6	3,185,073	1.5
189	Bolivia	1.4	12,244,159	2.5
190	Bhutan	0.7	786,385	1.5
191	Bermuda	-0.1	64,698	1.4
192	Benin	2.5	14,111,034	4.6
193	Belize	2.1	411,106	2
194	Belgium	0.9	11,779,946	1.5
195	Belarus	-0.5	9,178,298	1.2
196	Barbados	0	282,336	1.7
197	Bangladesh	1.2	171,466,990	2.2
198	Bahrain	3.4	1,577,059	1.8
199	Bahamas, The	0.5	399,440	1.4
200	Azerbaijan	0.1	10,153,958	1.6
201	Austria	1	9,131,761	1.3
202	Australia	2.4	26,659,922	1.5
203	Aruba	0	107,359	1.6
204	Armenia	-0.2	2,964,300	1.9
205	Argentina	0.3	45,538,401	1.5
206	Antigua and Barbuda	0.5	93,316	1.6
207	Angola	3.1	36,749,906	5.1
208	Andorra	1.4	80,856	1.1
209	American Samoa	-1.7	47,521	2.3
210	Algeria	1.5	46,164,219	2.8
211	Albania	-1.5	2,414,095	1.3
212	Afghanistan	2.1	41,454,761	4.8

Methodology

Rankings are based on American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates from the US Census Bureau. All 50 states and the District of Columbia are included. The ACS surveys approximately 3.5 million households annually and provides detailed demographic, social, economic, and housing data. 5-Year estimates offer the most reliable data for state-level comparisons by averaging responses over a 60-month period. Percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Oman has the highest population growth rate at 6.53%, according to latest Census ACS data. Kuwait and Syrian Arab Republic round out the top three.

Ukraine has the lowest population growth rate at -8.42%. Kosovo is second-lowest at -4.95%.

The median across all 212 states is 0.99%. Note that the national median and the state-level median are calculated differently, the state median represents the midpoint when all states are ranked.

This data comes from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates published by the US Census Bureau. The ACS surveys approximately 3.5 million households annually and provides the most comprehensive demographic data available between decennial censuses.

Rankings are based on the latest available Census ACS 5-Year estimates. The Census Bureau releases new ACS data annually. Our data was last updated on April 12, 2026.

Sources: US Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS, 2026.