Demographics

Charted: The World’s Most Populous Countries (1973–2023)

Published

1 year ago

October 11, 2022

Nick Routley

Article/Editing:

Raul Amoros

Graphics/Design:

Joyce Ma

Data visualization showing the world's top 10 most populous countries over the past 50 years

Can I share this graphic?
Yes. Visualizations are free to share and post in their original form across the web—even for publishers. Please link back to this page and attribute Visual Capitalist.

When do I need a license?
Licenses are required for some commercial uses, translations, or layout modifications. You can even whitelabel our visualizations. Explore your options.

Interested in this piece?
Click here to license this visualization.

The World’s Most Populous Countries (1973–2023)

Humankind is now double the size it was in 1973.

Of course, that growth has been far from uniform, and the ranking of the world’s most populous countries continues to evolve.

Using the latest data available from the United Nations, we’ve looked at which countries have the largest share of the planet’s eight billion people.

The Top 10 Most Populous Countries

Here are the countries shown above, including how much they’ve grown over the past 50 years:

Country	Population (1973)	Population (2023)	Change (1973–2023)
🇨🇳 China	881,652,084	1,425,671,353	544,019,269
🇮🇳 India	596,107,487	1,428,627,666	832,520,179
🇺🇸 United States	207,314,772	339,996,567	132,681,795
🇷🇺 Russia	132,191,636	144,444,360	12,252,724
🇮🇩 Indonesia	124,709,060	277,534,118	152,825,058
🇯🇵 Japan	109,679,473	123,294,516	13,615,043
🇧🇷 Brazil	103,666,906	216,422,450	112,755,544
🇩🇪 Germany	78,667,473	83,294,634	4,627,161
🇧🇩 Bangladesh	71,144,816	172,954,325	101,809,509
🇵🇰 Pakistan	64,285,630	240,485,666	176,200,036
🇳🇬 Nigeria	59,605,450	223,804,636	164,199,186
🇲🇽 Mexico	55,228,202	128,455,563	73,227,361

The numbers above highlight the extreme variance in growth for these world’s most populous countries. While Germany has grown by just 6% over the past 50 years, Pakistan and Nigeria have nearly quadrupled their populations.

Half a century ago, there were only six countries with populations of over 100 million. Today, there are 15 countries past that mark, with Vietnam positioned to hit that milestone next.

The Top 20 Most Populous Countries

Things get even more interesting when we examine the top 20 most populous countries over the same time period.

Country	Population (1973)	Rank (1973)	Population (2023)	Rank (2023)
🇨🇳 China	881,652,084	1	1,425,671,353	2
🇮🇳 India	596,107,487	2	1,428,627,666	1
🇺🇸 United States	207,314,772	3	339,996,567	3
🇷🇺Russia	132,191,636	4	144,444,360	9
🇮🇩 Indonesia	124,709,060	5	277,534,118	4
🇯🇵 Japan	109,679,473	6	123,294,516	12
🇧🇷 Brazil	103,666,906	7	216,422,450	7
🇩🇪 Germany	78,667,473	8	83,294,634	19
🇧🇩 Bangladesh	71,144,816	9	172,954,325	8
🇵🇰 Pakistan	64,285,630	10	240,485,666	5
🇳🇬 Nigeria	59,605,450	11	223,804,636	6
🇬🇧 United Kingdom	56,166,630	12	67,736,798	21
🇲🇽 Mexico	55,228,202	13	128,455,563	10
🇮🇹 Italy	54,379,587	14	58,870,763	25
🇫🇷 France	51,814,077	15	64,756,586	23
🇺🇦 Ukraine	48,301,548	16	36,744,635	41
🇻🇳 Vietnam	44,891,286	17	98,858,947	16
🇵🇭 Philippines	40,406,232	18	117,337,366	13
🇹🇭 Thailand	38,873,065	19	71,801,281	20
🇹🇷 Turkey	38,028,236	20	85,816,192	18
🇪🇬 Egypt	37,120,778	21	112,716,599	14
🇮🇷 Iran	30,981,903	25	89,172,768	17
🇪🇹 Ethiopia	30,694,321	26	126,527,064	11
🇨🇩 DRC	21,853,908	32	102,262,812	15

Looking back 50 years ago, Nigeria was the lone African nation in the top 20. Today, it is joined by Ethiopia, Egypt, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – all of which have experienced staggering population growth.

African nations are expected to lead population growth over the next few decades. By 2100, one quarter of the world’s people are expected to be African.

Europe is the flip side of this equation. Back in 1973, there were six European countries in this top list. Today, only Russia and Germany remain, with the latter country soon to fall out of the top 20 ranking.

Ukraine, which was shrinking, is expected to fall to at least 41st place due to the turmoil surrounding the Russian invasion of the country. Since the invasion began in February 2022, nearly 14 million border crossings have been recorded from Ukraine to other countries.

How Big Will Populations Get?

Once India becomes the world’s largest country, it will likely remain so for many decades in the future, peaking in the 2060s (unless there are substantial changes in projected growth rates). India’s peak population will stand at around 1.7 billion people.

The world’s population is expected to peak later, around the 2080s. Humanity’s peak population is expected to be about 10.5 billion.

Related Topics:china india population growth population most populous countries largest countries

Up Next

Visualized: Who Americans Spend Their Time With

Don't Miss

Ranked: The Most and Least Livable Cities in 2022

Click for Comments

Healthcare

Charted: Average Years Left to Live by Age

Visualizing the number of years left to live for Americans at every age, reveals the broader trends in American life expectancy.

Published

5 days ago

November 29, 2023

Pallavi Rao

Chart showing the average years left to live at every age for men and women.

How Many Years Do You Have Left to Live?

At the start of the 19th century, when there fewer than 1 billion humans on the earth, global life expectancy at birth stood at roughly 29 years.

This is a startlingly low figure—because life expectancy is a statistical projection of how many more years a person can expect to live, based on the mortality rates at the time. And since the infant mortality rate in particular was so high, life expectancies accurately summarized the low likelihood of many babies living to adulthood.

However, since the 1920s, life expectancy across all ages has improved leaps and bounds, thanks to rapid advancements in nutrition, healthcare, and sanitation.

We visualized the current American life expectancy by age and gender, using data from the Office of Social Security, which bases their current projections on 2020 mortality rates.

American Life Expectancy at Every Age

A key takeaway with life expectancy is that it increases as one gets older. This is easily seen in the table below, which lists the remaining years left to live at a given age for an American male and the projected life expectancy.

Age	Years Remaining (Men)	Life Expectancy (Men)
0	74.12	74.12
1	73.55	74.55
2	72.58	74.58
3	71.60	74.60
4	70.62	74.62
5	69.63	74.63
6	68.64	74.64
7	67.65	74.65
8	66.65	74.65
9	65.66	74.66
10	64.67	74.67
11	63.68	74.68
12	62.69	74.69
13	61.70	74.70
14	60.71	74.71
15	59.73	74.73
16	58.76	74.76
17	57.79	74.79
18	56.84	74.84
19	55.90	74.90
20	54.97	74.97
21	54.04	75.04
22	53.12	75.12
23	52.21	75.21
24	51.30	75.30
25	50.39	75.39
26	49.48	75.48
27	48.57	75.57
28	47.66	75.66
29	46.76	75.76
30	45.86	75.86
31	44.97	75.97
32	44.07	76.07
33	43.18	76.18
34	42.29	76.29
35	41.39	76.39
36	40.50	76.50
37	39.62	76.62
38	38.73	76.73
39	37.85	76.85
40	36.97	76.97
41	36.09	77.09
42	35.21	77.21
43	34.34	77.34
44	33.46	77.46
45	32.59	77.59
46	31.73	77.73
47	30.87	77.87
48	30.01	78.01
49	29.17	78.17
50	28.33	78.33
51	27.50	78.50
52	26.67	78.67
53	25.86	78.86
54	25.06	79.06
55	24.27	79.27
56	23.48	79.48
57	22.71	79.71
58	21.95	79.95
59	21.21	80.21
60	20.47	80.47
61	19.74	80.74
62	19.03	81.03
63	18.32	81.32
64	17.63	81.63
65	16.94	81.94
66	16.26	82.26
67	15.58	82.58
68	14.91	82.91
69	14.24	83.24
70	13.59	83.59
71	12.94	83.94
72	12.30	84.30
73	11.67	84.67
74	11.05	85.05
75	10.46	85.46
76	9.88	85.88
77	9.32	86.32
78	8.77	86.77
79	8.25	87.25
80	7.74	87.74
81	7.25	88.25
82	6.77	88.77
83	6.31	89.31
84	5.88	89.88
85	5.47	90.47
86	5.07	91.07
87	4.70	91.70
88	4.35	92.35
89	4.02	93.02
90	3.72	93.72
91	3.44	94.44
92	3.18	95.18
93	2.96	95.96
94	2.75	96.75
95	2.57	97.57
96	2.42	98.42
97	2.28	99.28
98	2.15	100.15
99	2.04	101.04
100	1.93	101.93
101	1.83	102.83
102	1.73	103.73
103	1.63	104.63
104	1.54	105.54
105	1.45	106.45
106	1.36	107.36
107	1.27	108.27
108	1.18	109.18
109	1.10	110.10
110	1.02	111.02
111	0.95	111.95
112	0.88	112.88
113	0.82	113.82
114	0.76	114.76
115	0.70	115.70
116	0.65	116.65
117	0.60	117.60
118	0.56	118.56
119	0.52	119.52
120	0.48	120.48

At birth, an average American baby boy can expect to live till just past 74. But if the boy reaches adulthood, then at 21 he might live to a full year more, past 75. This trend persists even towards the end of life when the years we have left drop rapidly, influenced by the higher likelihood of death.

American women, on the other hand, have a higher life expectancy than men. At birth the gap is close to six years, narrowing steadily to around one year by 85.

Age	Years Remaining (Women)	Life Expectancy (Women)
0	79.78	79.78
1	79.17	80.17
2	78.19	80.19
3	77.21	80.21
4	76.22	80.22
5	75.23	80.23
6	74.24	80.24
7	73.25	80.25
8	72.25	80.25
9	71.26	80.26
10	70.27	80.27
11	69.27	80.27
12	68.28	80.28
13	67.29	80.29
14	66.30	80.30
15	65.31	80.31
16	64.32	80.32
17	63.34	80.34
18	62.36	80.36
19	61.38	80.38
20	60.41	80.41
21	59.44	80.44
22	58.47	80.47
23	57.50	80.50
24	56.54	80.54
25	55.58	80.58
26	54.61	80.61
27	53.66	80.66
28	52.70	80.70
29	51.74	80.74
30	50.79	80.79
31	49.84	80.84
32	48.89	80.89
33	47.94	80.94
34	47.00	81.00
35	46.06	81.06
36	45.12	81.12
37	44.18	81.18
38	43.24	81.24
39	42.31	81.31
40	41.38	81.38
41	40.45	81.45
42	39.52	81.52
43	38.60	81.60
44	37.68	81.68
45	36.76	81.76
46	35.85	81.85
47	34.94	81.94
48	34.04	82.04
49	33.14	82.14
50	32.24	82.24
51	31.35	82.35
52	30.47	82.47
53	29.59	82.59
54	28.72	82.72
55	27.86	82.86
56	27.01	83.01
57	26.16	83.16
58	25.32	83.32
59	24.49	83.49
60	23.67	83.67
61	22.85	83.85
62	22.04	84.04
63	21.24	84.24
64	20.45	84.45
65	19.66	84.66
66	18.88	84.88
67	18.10	85.10
68	17.34	85.34
69	16.58	85.58
70	15.82	85.82
71	15.08	86.08
72	14.36	86.36
73	13.64	86.64
74	12.94	86.94
75	12.26	87.26
76	11.60	87.60
77	10.95	87.95
78	10.31	88.31
79	9.70	88.70
80	9.10	89.10
81	8.53	89.53
82	7.98	89.98
83	7.44	90.44
84	6.93	90.93
85	6.44	91.44
86	5.99	91.99
87	5.55	92.55
88	5.15	93.15
89	4.76	93.76
90	4.41	94.41
91	4.08	95.08
92	3.78	95.78
93	3.51	96.51
94	3.27	97.27
95	3.05	98.05
96	2.85	98.85
97	2.68	99.68
98	2.52	100.52
99	2.37	101.37
100	2.23	102.23
101	2.09	103.09
102	1.96	103.96
103	1.84	104.84
104	1.72	105.72
105	1.61	106.61
106	1.51	107.51
107	1.41	108.41
108	1.32	109.32
109	1.24	110.24
110	1.16	111.16
111	1.09	112.09
112	1.02	113.02
113	0.96	113.96
114	0.90	114.90
115	0.85	115.85
116	0.80	116.80
117	0.75	117.75
118	0.70	118.70
119	0.66	119.66
120	0.62	120.62

Interestingly, women outlive men in nearly every country in the world, due to a mix of sociological, behavioral, and biological reasons.

COVID-19: Reversing A Decade of Increasing American Life Expectancy

While the current American life expectancy at birth seems reasonably high, it is nearly two years lower than the 2022 figure which used the 2019 mortality rate. It is also lower than the life expectancy at birth in 2009, which used 2005 mortality rate.

Year	Life Expectancy at Birth (Men)	Life Expectancy at Birth (Women)
2009	74.12	79.95
2014	76.10	80.94
2019	76.04	80.99
2023	74.12	79.78

American mortality rates went up 17% between 2019–2020, in part because of COVID-19, in turn affecting life expectancy. The U.S. also had a higher COVID-19 mortality rate compared to its peers two years after the pandemic first struck.

Thus, American life expectancy may not improve immediately to 2019 levels, which can affect insurance premiums, pension benefits, and plans.

Where Does This Data Come From?

Source: Office of Social Security, U.S. Government.

Note: The life expectancy at a given age is the average remaining number of years expected prior to death for a person at that exact age, born on January 1, using the mortality rates for 2020 over the course of their remaining life.