World Bank Data · 211 countries

Most Populated Countries in the World

The world's population surpassed 8 billion in 2022, but growth is distributed unevenly. India recently overtook China as the most populous country, a milestone reflecting India's younger population and higher fertility rate. Together, India and China account for roughly 36% of humanity. Population size shapes a country's economic potential, political influence, military capacity, and environmental footprint. The most populous countries span every continent and income level, from wealthy nations like the United States (#3) to developing economies like Nigeria (#7). Understanding population distribution is critical for global policy on climate change, food security, migration, and trade. The demographic landscape is shifting rapidly: while sub-Saharan Africa's population is booming, many wealthy nations face population decline and aging workforces.

Key Findings

1India leads with a population of 1,438,069,596, followed by China (1,410,710,000) and United States (336,806,231).
2Tuvalu ranks last at 9,816, while India leads at 1,438,069,596.
3The national median across all states is 6,823,613 (Nicaragua at the midpoint).
4The top 10 states are: India, China, United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil, Bangladesh, Russian Federation, Mexico.

Full Ranking: Most Populated Countries in the World

Source: Census ACS 2023 5-Year Estimates

#	Country	Population	GDP/Capita	Life Expectancy
1	Zimbabwe	16,340,822	$2,195	62.8
2	Zambia	20,723,965	$1,331	66.3
3	Yemen, Rep.	39,390,799	—	69.3
4	Virgin Islands (U.S.)	104,917	—	80.5
5	Viet Nam	100,352,192	$4,323	74.6
6	Venezuela, RB	28,300,854	$3,617	72.5
7	Vanuatu	320,409	$3,483	71.5
8	Uzbekistan	35,652,307	$2,879	72.4
9	Uruguay	3,388,081	$23,019	78.1
10	United States	336,806,231	$81,032	78.4
11	United Kingdom	68,492,000	$49,944	81.2
12	United Arab Emirates	10,483,751	$49,851	82.9
13	Ukraine	37,732,836	$5,140	73.4
14	Uganda	48,656,601	$1,002	68.3
15	Tuvalu	9,816	$6,345	67.1
16	Turks and Caicos Islands	46,198	$35,470	78
17	Turkmenistan	7,364,438	$6,232	70.1
18	Turkiye	85,325,965	$13,375	77.2
19	Tunisia	12,200,431	$3,951	76.5
20	Trinidad and Tobago	1,367,510	$18,308	73.5
21	Tonga	104,597	$5,652	72.9
22	Togo	9,304,337	$1,055	62.7
23	Timor-Leste	1,384,286	$1,502	67.7
24	Thailand	71,702,435	$7,195	76.4
25	Tanzania	66,617,606	$1,224	67
26	Tajikistan	10,389,799	$1,178	71.8
27	Syrian Arab Republic	23,594,623	—	72.1
28	Switzerland	8,888,822	$100,624	84.2
29	Sweden	10,536,632	$54,950	83.3
30	Suriname	628,886	$5,522	73.6
31	Sudan	50,042,791	$797.28	66.3
32	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	101,323	$10,582	71.2
33	St. Martin (French part)	27,515	—	80.2
34	St. Lucia	179,285	$13,555	72.7
35	St. Kitts and Nevis	46,758	$22,577	72.1
36	Sri Lanka	22,037,000	$3,799	77.5
37	Spain	48,352,528	$33,493	83.9
38	South Sudan	11,483,374	—	57.6
39	South Africa	63,212,384	$6,034	66.1
40	Somalia, Fed. Rep.	18,358,615	$596.89	58.8
41	Solomon Islands	800,005	$1,883	70.5
42	Slovenia	2,120,461	$32,660	81.9
43	Slovak Republic	5,426,740	$24,615	78.1
44	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	42,749	$39,452	76.4
45	Singapore	5,917,648	$85,412	83.1
46	Sierra Leone	8,460,512	$758.33	61.8
47	Seychelles	119,773	$18,263	75.4
48	Serbia	6,623,183	$12,282	76.1
49	Senegal	18,077,573	$1,698	68.7
50	Saudi Arabia	33,702,731	$36,157	78.7
51	Sao Tome and Principe	230,871	$2,991	69.7
52	San Marino	33,860	$59,880	85.7
53	Samoa	216,663	$4,823	71.7
54	Rwanda	13,954,471	$1,027	67.8
55	Russian Federation	143,826,130	$14,159	73.3
56	Romania	19,061,062	$18,244	76.4
57	Qatar	2,656,032	$81,817	82.4
58	Puerto Rico (US)	3,203,792	$36,981	81.7
59	Portugal	10,578,174	$27,635	82.3
60	Poland	36,687,353	$22,145	78.3
61	Philippines	114,891,199	$3,804	69.8
62	Peru	33,845,617	$7,888	77.7
63	Paraguay	6,844,146	$6,300	73.8
64	Papua New Guinea	10,389,635	$2,966	66.1
65	Panama	4,458,759	$18,797	79.6
66	Palau	17,727	$15,611	69.3
67	Pakistan	247,504,495	$1,360	67.6
68	Oman	5,049,269	$21,028	80
69	Norway	5,519,601	$87,497	83
70	Northern Mariana Islands	45,143	—	78.8
71	North Macedonia	1,827,816	$8,674	75.3
72	Nigeria	227,882,945	$2,139	54.5
73	Niger	26,159,867	$638.34	61.2
74	Nicaragua	6,823,613	$2,609	74.9
75	New Zealand	5,200,000	$49,076	81.8
76	New Caledonia	289,870	$33,702	78.8
77	Netherlands	17,877,117	$63,516	81.9
78	Nepal	29,694,614	$1,382	70.4
79	Nauru	11,875	$12,752	62.1
80	Namibia	2,963,095	$4,188	67.4
81	Myanmar	54,133,798	$1,233	66.9
82	Mozambique	33,635,160	$622.00	63.6
83	Morocco	37,712,505	$3,814	75.3
84	Montenegro	623,529	$12,260	77.6
85	Mongolia	3,481,145	$5,839	72.1
86	Monaco	38,956	$256,800	86.4
87	Moldova	2,457,783	$6,800	71.2
88	Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	112,630	$3,920	67.2
89	Mexico	129,739,759	$13,861	75.1
90	Mauritius	1,248,647	$11,270	73.4
91	Mauritania	5,022,441	$2,136	68.5
92	Marshall Islands	38,827	$6,793	66.9
93	Malta	552,747	$40,906	83.4
94	Mali	23,769,127	$1,044	60.4
95	Maldives	525,994	$12,588	81
96	Malaysia	35,126,298	$11,386	76.7
97	Malawi	21,104,482	$633.21	67.4
98	Madagascar	31,195,932	$508.72	63.6
99	Luxembourg	666,430	$133,231	83.3
100	Lithuania	2,871,585	$27,786	77.3
101	Liechtenstein	39,846	$206,781	84.6
102	Libya	7,305,659	$6,027	69.3
103	Liberia	5,493,031	$799.19	62.2
104	Lesotho	2,311,472	$916.28	57.4
105	Lebanon	5,773,493	$3,478	77.8
106	Latvia	1,883,710	$22,710	75.4
107	Lao PDR	7,664,993	$2,067	69
108	Kyrgyz Republic	7,099,750	$2,138	72.2
109	Kuwait	4,853,420	$34,076	83.2
110	Kosovo	1,682,668	$6,221	78
111	Korea, Rep.	51,712,619	$35,674	83.4
112	Korea, Dem. People's Rep.	26,418,204	—	73.6
113	Kiribati	132,530	$2,178	66.5
114	Kenya	55,339,003	$1,943	63.6
115	Kazakhstan	20,330,104	$12,879	74.4
116	Jordan	11,439,213	$4,466	77.8
117	Japan	124,516,650	$33,836	84
118	Jamaica	2,839,786	$7,542	71.5
119	Italy	58,984,216	$39,277	83.4
120	Isle of Man	84,165	—	81
121	Ireland	5,311,538	$106,819	82.8
122	Iraq	45,074,049	$5,965	72.3
123	Iran, Islamic Rep.	90,608,707	$5,049	77.7
124	Indonesia	281,190,067	$4,876	71.1
125	India	1,438,069,596	$2,530	72
126	Iceland	385,663	$82,139	82.5
127	Hungary	9,592,186	$22,231	76.6
128	Honduras	10,644,851	$3,227	72.9
129	Haiti	11,637,398	$1,706	64.9
130	Guyana	826,353	$20,474	70.2
131	Guinea-Bissau	2,153,339	$988.09	64.1
132	Guinea	14,405,468	$1,555	60.7
133	Guatemala	18,124,838	$5,758	72.6
134	Guam	166,506	—	77.2
135	Grenada	117,081	$11,414	75.2
136	Greenland	56,865	$58,499	71
137	Greece	10,407,351	$23,344	81.7
138	Ghana	33,787,914	$2,384	65.5
139	Germany	83,287,273	$54,777	81
140	Georgia	3,715,483	$8,284	74.5
141	Gambia, The	2,697,845	$883.02	65.9
142	Gabon	2,484,789	$7,803	68.3
143	French Polynesia	281,118	$21,832	84.1
144	France	68,372,286	$44,700	82.8
145	Finland	5,583,911	$52,834	81.6
146	Fiji	924,145	$5,926	67.3
147	Faroe Islands	54,414	$72,465	83
148	Ethiopia	128,691,692	$1,056	67.3
149	Eswatini	1,230,506	$3,756	64.1
150	Estonia	1,370,286	$30,264	78.8
151	Eritrea	3,470,390	—	68.6
152	Equatorial Guinea	1,847,549	$6,678	63.7
153	El Salvador	6,309,624	$5,365	72.1
154	Egypt, Arab Rep.	114,535,772	$3,457	71.6
155	Ecuador	17,980,083	$6,738	77.4
156	Dominican Republic	11,331,265	$10,630	73.7
157	Dominica	66,510	$9,913	71.1
158	Djibouti	1,152,944	$3,381	66
159	Denmark	5,946,952	$68,044	81.8
160	Czechia	10,864,042	$31,762	79.8
161	Cyprus	1,344,976	$36,624	81.6
162	Curacao	154,654	$21,218	76.8
163	Cuba	11,019,931	—	78.1
164	Croatia	3,859,686	$22,184	78.5
165	Cote d'Ivoire	31,165,654	$2,592	61.9
166	Costa Rica	5,105,525	$16,942	80.8
167	Congo, Rep.	6,182,885	$2,478	65.8
168	Congo, Dem. Rep.	105,789,731	$660.21	61.9
169	Comoros	850,387	$1,560	66.8
170	Colombia	52,321,152	$7,001	77.7
171	China	1,410,710,000	$12,951	78
172	Chile	19,658,835	$17,067	81.2
173	Chad	19,319,064	$949.33	55.1
174	Central African Republic	5,152,421	$495.98	57.4
175	Cayman Islands	73,038	$99,144	80.4
176	Canada	40,083,484	$54,220	81.6
177	Cameroon	28,372,687	$1,720	63.7
178	Cambodia	17,423,880	$2,430	70.7
179	Cabo Verde	522,331	$4,795	76.1
180	Burundi	13,689,450	$250.63	63.7
181	Burkina Faso	23,025,776	$873.48	61.1
182	Bulgaria	6,446,596	$15,853	75.8
183	Brunei Darussalam	458,949	$32,891	75.3
184	British Virgin Islands	38,985	—	77.3
185	Brazil	211,140,729	$10,378	75.8
186	Botswana	2,480,244	$7,826	69.2
187	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3,185,073	$8,663	77.9
188	Bolivia	12,244,159	$4,275	68.6
189	Bhutan	786,385	$3,831	73
190	Bermuda	64,698	$132,604	82.3
191	Benin	14,111,034	$1,394	60.8
192	Belize	411,106	$7,425	73.6
193	Belgium	11,779,946	$55,291	82.4
194	Belarus	9,178,298	$7,897	74.2
195	Barbados	282,336	$25,584	76.2
196	Bangladesh	171,466,990	$2,551	74.7
197	Bahrain	1,577,059	$29,290	81.3
198	Bahamas, The	399,440	$38,232	74.6
199	Azerbaijan	10,153,958	$7,133	74.4
200	Austria	9,131,761	$56,580	81.8
201	Australia	26,659,922	$65,058	83.1
202	Aruba	107,359	$35,719	76.4
203	Armenia	2,964,300	$8,159	77.5
204	Argentina	45,538,401	$14,262	77.4
205	Antigua and Barbuda	93,316	$21,495	77.6
206	Angola	36,749,906	$2,916	64.6
207	Andorra	80,856	$46,812	84
208	American Samoa	47,521	—	72.9
209	Algeria	46,164,219	$5,370	76.3
210	Albania	2,414,095	$9,731	79.6
211	Afghanistan	41,454,761	$413.76	66

Methodology

Rankings are based on American Community Survey (ACS) 2023 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

India has the highest population at 1,438,069,596, according to Census ACS 2023 data. China and United States round out the top three.

Tuvalu has the lowest population at 9,816. Nauru is second-lowest at 11,875.

The median across all 211 states is 6,823,613. 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) 2023 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 data (currently 2023 5-Year estimates). The Census Bureau releases new ACS data annually, typically in September. Our data was last updated on April 12, 2026.

Sources: US Census Bureau ACS 2023 5-Year Estimates