United Nations Nations Unies

Population Division
Department of Economic and Social Affairs

The twenty most populous countries in 1950, 1999 and 2050

1950
Rank Country Population
(in 1,000)		 Percentage of
world total
1 China 554,760 22.0%
2 India 357,561 14.2%
3 United States of America 157,813 6.3%
4 Russian Federation 102,192 4.1%
5 Japan 83,625 3.3%
6 Indonesia 79,538 3.2%
7 Germany 68,376 2.7%
8 Brazil 53,975 2.1%
9 United Kingdom 50,616 2.0%
10 Italy 47,104 1.9%
11 France 41,829 1.7%
12 Bangladesh 41,783 1.7%
13 Pakistan 39,513 1.6%
14 Ukraine 36,906 1.5%
15 Nigeria 30,703 1.2%
16 Viet Nam 29,954 1.2%
17 Spain 28,009 1.1%
18 Mexico 27,737 1.1%
19 Poland 24,824 1.0%
20 Egypt 21,834 0.9%
  World total 2,521,495 100.0%

1999

Rank Country Population
(in 1,000)		 Percentage of
world total
1 China 1,266,838 21.2%
2 India 998,056 16.7%
3 United States of America 276,218 4.6%
4 Indonesia 209,255 3.5%
5 Brazil 167,988 2.8%
6 Pakistan 152,331 2.5%
7 Russian Federation 147,196 2.5%
8 Bangladesh 126,947 2.1%
9 Japan 126,505 2.1%
10 Nigeria 108,945 1.8%
11 Mexico 97,365 1.6%
12 Germany 82,178 1.4%
13 Viet Nam 78,705 1.3%
14 Philippines 74,454 1.2%
15 Egypt 67,226 1.1%
16 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 66,796 1.1%
17 Turkey 65,546 1.1%
18 Ethiopia 61,095 1.0%
19 Thailand 60,856 1.0%
20 France 58,886 1.0%
  World total 5,978,401 100.0%

2050

Rank Country Population
(in 1,000)		 Percentage of
world total
1 India 1,528,853 17.2%
2 China 1,477,730 16.6%
3 United States of America 349,318 3.9%
4 Pakistan 345,484 3.9%
5 Indonesia 311,857 3.5%
6 Nigeria 244,311 2.7%
7 Brazil 244,230 2.7%
8 Bangladesh 212,495 2.4%
9 Ethiopia 169,446 1.9%
10 Dem. Republic of the Congo 160,360 1.8%
11 Mexico 146,645 1.6%
12 Philippines 130,893 1.5%
13 Viet Nam 126,793 1.4%
14 Russian Federation 121,256 1.4%
15 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 114,947 1.3%
16 Egypt 114,844 1.3%
17 Japan 104,921 1.2%
18 Turkey 100,664 1.1%
19 United Rep. of Tanzania 80,584 0.9%
20 Thailand 74,188 0.8%
  World total 8,909,095 100.0%

Source: United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects: The 1998 Revision, Copyright ©, 1999

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