Home › Lists › Most populated countries in the world

Curated list · 2026

Most populated countries in the world

Ranked by population, largest first.

This ranking orders countries by total population using national statistics and UN and World Bank estimates. India now leads, having overtaken China, followed by the United States, Indonesia and Pakistan. For a nomad the population figure hints at market size and city density, but it says nothing about cost or quality of life, so treat it as context rather than a shortlist.

#	Country	Population
1	India	1,463,865,525
2	China	1,406,585,000
3	United States	341,784,857
4	Indonesia	285,721,236
5	Pakistan	255,219,554
6	Nigeria	237,527,782
7	Brazil	212,812,405
8	Bangladesh	175,686,899
9	Russia	143,513,328
10	Ethiopia	135,472,051
11	Mexico	131,946,900
12	Japan	123,366,734
13	Egypt	118,365,995
14	Philippines	116,786,962
15	DR Congo	112,832,473
16	Vietnam	101,598,527
17	Iran	92,417,681
18	Turkey	85,878,556
19	Germany	83,491,249
20	Thailand	71,619,863
21	Tanzania	70,545,865
22	United Kingdom	69,487,000
23	France	68,720,337
24	South Africa	64,747,319
25	Italy	58,915,656
26	Kenya	57,532,493
27	Myanmar	54,850,648
28	Colombia	53,425,635
29	South Korea	51,684,564
30	Sudan	51,662,147
31	Uganda	51,384,894
32	Spain	49,355,143
33	Algeria	47,435,312
34	Iraq	47,020,774
35	Argentina	45,851,378
36	Afghanistan	43,844,111
37	Canada	41,651,653
38	Angola	39,040,039
39	Ukraine	38,980,376
40	Morocco	38,430,770
41	Uzbekistan	37,053,428
42	Saudi Arabia	36,973,555
43	Poland	36,435,861
44	Malaysia	35,977,838
45	Mozambique	35,631,653
46	Ghana	35,064,272
47	Peru	34,576,665
48	Madagascar	32,740,678
49	Ivory Coast	32,711,547
50	Cameroon	29,879,337
51	Nepal	29,618,118
52	Venezuela	28,516,896
53	Niger	27,917,831
54	Australia	27,614,411
55	Mali	25,198,821
56	Burkina Faso	24,074,580
57	Taiwan	23,451,837
58	Malawi	22,216,120
59	Zambia	21,913,874
60	Sri Lanka	21,756,000
61	Chad	21,003,705
62	Kazakhstan	20,843,754
63	Chile	19,859,921
64	Somalia	19,654,739
65	Romania	19,020,271
66	Senegal	18,931,966
67	Guatemala	18,687,881
68	Ecuador	18,289,896
69	Netherlands	18,087,633
70	Cambodia	17,847,982
71	Zimbabwe	16,950,795
72	Guinea	15,099,727
73	Benin	14,814,460
74	Rwanda	14,569,341
75	Burundi	14,390,003
76	Bolivia	12,581,843
77	Tunisia	12,348,573
78	South Sudan	12,188,788
79	Belgium	11,941,781
80	Jordan	11,520,684
81	Dominican Republic	11,520,487
82	United Arab Emirates	11,513,149
83	Honduras	11,005,850
84	Cuba	10,937,203
85	Czech Republic	10,886,878
86	Portugal	10,804,871
87	Tajikistan	10,786,734
88	Papua New Guinea	10,762,817
89	Sweden	10,596,620
90	Greece	10,413,962
91	Azerbaijan	10,246,996
92	Israel	10,122,800
93	Hungary	9,514,251
94	Austria	9,208,163
95	Switzerland	9,092,436
96	Belarus	9,085,991
97	Sierra Leone	8,819,794
98	Togo	8,591,626
99	Laos	7,873,046
100	Turkmenistan	7,618,847
101	Hong Kong	7,498,900
102	Libya	7,458,555
103	Kyrgyzstan	7,343,064
104	Paraguay	7,013,078
105	Nicaragua	7,007,502
106	Serbia	6,549,143
107	Republic of the Congo	6,484,437
108	Bulgaria	6,433,302
109	El Salvador	6,365,503
110	Singapore	6,111,175
111	Denmark	6,009,169
112	Lebanon	5,849,421
113	Liberia	5,731,206
114	Finland	5,646,436
115	Norway	5,610,870
116	Central African Republic	5,513,282
117	Oman	5,494,691
118	Ireland	5,484,367
119	Slovakia	5,413,813
120	New Zealand	5,324,700
121	Mauritania	5,315,065
122	Costa Rica	5,152,950
123	Kuwait	4,865,298
124	Panama	4,571,189
125	Georgia	3,935,766
126	Croatia	3,876,200
127	Eritrea	3,607,003
128	Mongolia	3,568,978
129	Uruguay	3,384,688
130	Puerto Rico	3,184,835
131	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3,140,095
132	Namibia	3,092,816
133	Armenia	3,086,700
134	Qatar	2,972,215
135	Lithuania	2,888,774
136	Jamaica	2,837,077
137	Gambia	2,822,093
138	Gabon	2,593,130
139	Botswana	2,562,122
140	Lesotho	2,363,325
141	Moldova	2,360,527
142	Albania	2,349,580
143	Guinea-Bissau	2,249,515
144	Slovenia	2,130,986
145	Equatorial Guinea	1,938,431
146	Latvia	1,847,785
147	North Macedonia	1,820,909
148	Bahrain	1,600,366
149	Kosovo	1,576,876
150	Timor-Leste	1,418,517
151	Cyprus	1,370,754
152	Trinidad and Tobago	1,367,764
153	Estonia	1,366,475
154	Eswatini	1,256,174
155	Mauritius	1,243,741
156	Djibouti	1,184,076
157	Fiji	933,154
158	Guyana	835,986
159	Bhutan	796,682
160	Luxembourg	686,970
161	Macau	685,900
162	Suriname	639,850
163	Montenegro	623,129
164	Malta	579,704
165	Maldives	529,676
166	Cape Verde	527,326
167	Brunei	466,330
168	Belize	422,924
169	Bahamas	403,033
170	Iceland	392,404
171	Vanuatu	335,169
172	Barbados	282,623
173	Samoa	219,306
174	Saint Lucia	180,149
175	Curaçao	156,263
176	Seychelles	122,730
177	Grenada	117,303
178	Aruba	108,785
179	Tonga	103,742
180	Antigua and Barbuda	94,209
181	Jersey	90,812
182	Isle of Man	84,118
183	Andorra	82,904
184	Cayman Islands	75,844
185	Dominica	65,871
186	Guernsey	65,228
187	Bermuda	64,555
188	St Kitts and Nevis	46,922
189	Turks and Caicos	46,855
190	Liechtenstein	41,024
191	Gibraltar	40,126
192	British Virgin Islands	39,732
193	Monaco	38,341
194	San Marino	34,109
195	Palau	17,663
196	Anguilla	13,254
197	Vatican City *	921

* Residence is not obtainable by ordinary applicants (for example, the Vatican grants residency only to clergy and Holy See employees).

Source: Population, World Bank SP.POP.TOTL.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most populated country in the world?

India is the most populated country, having overtaken China around 2023, with roughly 1.45 billion people. China is a close second, and the two together hold more than a third of humanity. The United States is a distant third at about 340 million.

Is India more populated than China?

Yes. India passed China to become the world's most populous country around 2023, according to UN estimates. India's population is still growing slowly while China's has begun to decline, so the gap is widening. Both countries have well over a billion residents.

What are the top 10 most populated countries?

The ten most populous countries are India, China, the United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil, Bangladesh, Russia and Mexico. Together they account for well over half the world's people. The lower half of that list shifts as fast-growing countries like Nigeria climb.

Will Nigeria be the most populous country?

No. India is expected to stay the world's most populous country for decades, but Nigeria is the fastest riser and is projected to become the third most populous country by around 2050. Its population could approach 375 million by then. China's population, meanwhile, is set to keep falling.