The Most Populous Nations on Earth

The world population passed the five billion mark in the late 1980s and since then the figure has risen steadily to 7.8 billion in 2020. According to the International Monetary Fund, the largest share of the world population lives in China with 18.4 percent, followed by India with 17.94 percent.

The U.S. is actually the world’s third most populous nation. 4.34 percent of the global population live here. Since 1989, World Population Day draws attention to problems caused by the increasing number of people on this Earth. The UN expects the world’s population to grow to 10.9 billion by 2100.

Asia is by far the most populous continent on Earth. The United Nations estimates that the Asian population will peak at 5.27 billion in 2070. Europe and Latin America will reach their population peaks at 689 million and 765 million inhabitants, respectively, around the year 2060, according to the projection. African populations are expected to keep growing, albeit at a slower pace, beyond the current century, which is when their combined size could surpass that of Asian populations.