World Population Day 2024: Top 10 most populated countries in the world—China or India, who ranks first?

The UN predicts that the world's population will continue to rise, reaching 9.7 billion in 2050 and potentially peaking at nearly 10.4 billion in the mid-2080s, representing an increase of almost 2 billion individuals within the next 30 years.

the world’s population will continue to rise, reaching 9.7 billion in 2050

On World Population Day 2024, the top 10 most populated countries will be: The global population has experienced remarkable growth in recent centuries. It was expected to take hundreds of thousands of years to reach 1 billion people; however, within just 200 years, the population grew to seven times that size.

In 2011, the world’s population reached 7 billion, and projections by the UN suggest that the global population will grow to approximately 8.5 billion by 2030, 9.7 billion by 2050, and 10.9 billion by 2100.

Primarily driven by increased life expectancy, changes in fertility rates, urbanisation, and migration, these factors are likely to have widespread implications for generations to come, impacting economic development, employment, income distribution, poverty, and social welfare.

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Notably, with its population estimated to touch 142.86 crores, marginally ahead of China, India overtook China as the world’s most populous country, according to the UNFPA’s State of the World Population Report in 2023. This was a result of 11.1 million deaths and 9 million births in China, marking the second year in which China’s total population has been reduced.

Read | World’s top 10 largest cities by population in 2024: Indian cities claim two spots

The UNFPA report indicates that if India’s population continues to grow at the current rate of just under one per cent annually, it will double from its current value in the next 75 years. Experts say that India’s large population is a result of the “population momentum” from earlier decades and that the country’s population is likely to start its decline closer to 2050.

Graph showing increase in India's population between 2011 and 2035.

Graph showing an increase in India’s population between 2011 and 2035.

This trend would also apply to the global population, which is currently slightly above 8 billion. However, it is expected that both India’s and the world’s populations will stabilise long before that.

Recognising the growth trends in population, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) emphasised the urgency of global population issues by establishing the Day of the Five Billion in 1987, which they have been observing as World Population Day on July 11th annually since 1990.

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World Population Day seeks to raise awareness of global population issues. (Source: United Nations)

World Population Day serves as a platform to raise awareness and address crucial population-related challenges, in addition to highlighting the significance of family planning, gender equality, maternal health, and human rights.

This year, in 2024, it will fall on a Thursday and will emphasise the theme Investing in data collection is important to understanding problems, tailoring solutions, and driving progress.”

On World Population Day, we aim to raise awareness and understanding of global population issues, including demographic trends, growth projections, and their impact on sustainable development. Discover and take a look at the most populous countries in the world as of 2024.

Here are the top 10 most populated countries in the world, as of 2024:

Rank	Country Name	2024 Population	2023 Population	Growth Rate	World %
1	India	1,441,719,852	1,428,627,663	0.92%	18.01%
2	China	1,425,178,782	1,425,671,352	-0.03%	17.80%
3	United States of America	341,814,420	339,996,563	0.53%	4.27%
4	Indonesia	279,798,049	277,534,122	0.82%	3.50%
5	Pakistan	245,209,815	240,485,658	1.96%	3.06%
6	Nigeria	229,152,217	223,804,632	2.39%	2.86%
7	Brazil	217,637,297	216,422,446	0.56%	2.72%
8	Bangladesh	174,701,211	172,954,319	1.01%	2.18%
9	Russia	143,957,079	144,444,359	-0.34%	1.80%
10	Ethiopia	129,719,719	126,527,060	2.52%	1.62%

Source: World Population Review

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The global human population surpassed 8.0 billion in mid-November 2022, marking a significant increase from an estimated 2.5 billion people in 1950. This growth includes an additional 1 billion people since 2010 and 2 billion since 1998, according to the UN. Notably, China and India are the most populated countries, each with over 1 billion people, constituting nearly 18% of the world’s population.

Hence, the UN predicts that the world’s population will continue to rise, reaching 9.7 billion in 2050 and potentially peaking at nearly 10.4 billion in the mid-2080s, representing an increase of almost 2 billion individuals within the next 30 years.

Cherry Gupta

Cherry Gupta is an Assistant Manager – Content at The Indian Express. She leads the Top 10 section, curating list-based features on key national and international developments, and manages daily news content. She also produces SEO-driven articles and collaborates with the Lifestyle team to conduct interviews with notable artists and write workplace culture features. ... Read More

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