Sources and limits

The series

Figures are the World Bank's "Population estimates and projections" series, built from United Nations and national statistics. Values up to 2025 are estimates; 2026–2050 are projections that assume current fertility, mortality and migration trends continue, so they are not forecasts of events such as wars or policy changes. Territories are listed as the World Bank lists them, and a small number of places have gaps in some years.

• Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL)World Bank, source "Population estimates and projections", 1960–2050
• Land area (AG.LND.TOTL.K2)Used for density
• Fertility rate, total (SP.DYN.TFRT.IN)Births per woman
• Life expectancy at birth (SP.DYN.LE00.IN)Years
• Population ages 65 and above (SP.POP.65UP.TO.ZS)Share of the total
• Urban population (SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS)Share of the total

Licence

World Bank open data are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (CC BY 4.0). Pop vs reorganises the figures into pages and charts and does not endorse or represent the World Bank.

Why this site's crossover year can differ from a news story

Organisations publish different revisions of the same series, and a crossover between two close countries moves by a year or two when the source is revised. The year shown here is the one in the series on this site, not a claim about the day anything happened.

What the numbers cannot tell you

Estimates up to 2025 depend on how recently each country counted its people. Projections to 2050 continue current trends and are not forecasts of wars, policy changes or migration shocks.