Asia Dominates Massive Global Population Changes:

Asia Dominates Massive Global Population Changes

India’s population is set to more than quadruple from 1950 to 2050, reaching a staggering 1.68 billion. The broader Asia region dominates the top ten ranking, accounting for half of the listed nations. China’s population is the only one in the top ten estimated to fall from 2023 to 2050, moving from 1.42 billion to 1.26 billion.

Top 10 Largest Countries (in Population Terms)
Data is ranked on 2050 population numbers

Country	Population 1950	Population 2000	Population 2025	Population 2050
India	346.3M	1,057.9M	1,459.5M	1,548.0M
China	544.0M	1,269.6M	1,412.9M	1,173.2M
United States	154.2M	281.5M	346.4M	353.9M
Pakistan	35.8M	154.9M	254.5M	343.3M
Nigeria	37.3M	126.4M	236.9M	332.5M
Indonesia	68.8M	216.1M	284.9M	295.6M
Ethiopia	17.7M	67.4M	135.1M	207.7M
Congo, Dem. Rep	12.3M	50.5M	112.6M	204.5M
Brazil	53.4M	174.0M	212.2M	201.0M
Bangladesh	41.2M	134.5M	175.1M	196.6M

Country	1950	2000	2050
India	346.3M	1,057.9M	1,548.0M
China	544.0M	1,269.6M	1,173.2M
United States	154.2M	281.5M	353.9M
Pakistan	35.8M	154.9M	343.3M
Nigeria	37.3M	126.4M	332.5M
Indonesia	68.8M	216.1M	295.6M
Ethiopia	17.7M	67.4M	207.7M
Congo, Dem. Rep	12.3M	50.5M	204.5M
Brazil	53.4M	174.0M	201.0M
Bangladesh	41.2M	134.5M	196.6M

Source: World Economics Population Database, 2025

No European countries make the top ten ranking, partly as a result of Europe's falling fertility rate (1.5% compared with Africa's 4%). This high fertility rate in Africa can be seen in places like Nigeria whose population, it is estimated, will rise nearly tenfold from 1950 to 2050. The only western nation to appear is the United States. In 1950, the United States was once quadruple the size of Nigeria in terms of population. A century later, the gap between the two nations is much smaller.

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