Population data
Structured reference tables built from three open-licensed datasets spanning 12,000 years — from HYDE 3.3 prehistory estimates to UN WPP 2024 projections. Each table is designed for direct lookup and research.
World population by year
Annual world population from 200 CE to 2026 — with yearly % change, net addition, and population density. Spans all three source regimes: HYDE 3.3 (pre-1800), Gapminder v7 (1800–1949), and UN WPP 2024 (1950–2026).
Countries by population (2026)
All 234 countries and territories ranked by 2026 population. Includes growth rate, net annual change, population density, land area, net migrants, total fertility rate, median age, and urban share.
How many countries are there in the world?
The definitive answer: 193 UN member states, 195 widely recognised countries, 249 ISO entities. Breakdown by recognition status, region, and a full timeline of how the count changed from 1900 to 2024.
Data sources
Historical reconstruction of global and country-level population back to 10,000 BCE, built by PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency from archaeology and land-use models.
Open dataset of long-run country population statistics assembled from historical censuses, administrative records, and official statistics by the Gapminder Foundation.
The UN's authoritative dataset of national population estimates and projections, based on censuses, civil registration, DHS/MICS surveys, and Bayesian cohort-component models.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the population data come from?
Three open-licensed sources stitched together: HYDE 3.3 (PBL Netherlands) for prehistoric and pre-1800 estimates, Gapminder Population v7 for 1800–1949, and UN World Population Prospects 2024 for 1950 onward. Each source is labelled within the tables so you always know the provenance of every figure.
Can I download the data?
The underlying sources are freely downloadable from their publishers — all under open CC BY licenses. This site's tables are derived reference views; CSV export of the displayed tables is planned for a future release. Until then, the raw data is available directly from Gapminder and UN WPP Downloads.
How often is the data updated?
Tables reflect the most recent published revision of each source. The UN WPP is updated on a roughly two-year cycle — the current edition is UN WPP 2024, published in July 2024. Gapminder v7 and HYDE 3.3 are updated less frequently. This site will incorporate new revisions as they are released.
Why do some historical figures differ from other sources?
Pre-1950 population estimates are reconstructions derived from census records, archaeology, and land-use models. Different studies use different assumptions, so estimates can legitimately vary by ±5–20% for early modern periods and much more for ancient eras. Figures before 1000 CE should be treated as order-of-magnitude estimates — they capture the scale of ancient populations, not exact counts. See the CAGR glossary entry for how growth rates are calculated across these data regimes.
What is the difference between the two data tables?
The world population by year table shows a single global figure across time — from 200 CE to 2026 — useful for understanding long-run growth trends, peak growth rates, and billion-person milestones. The countries by population table is a cross-sectional snapshot of all 234 countries ranked by 2026 population, with demographic indicators like TFR, median age, density, and urban share for comparison.