2026 country ranking

Most Populous Countries in 2026

Compare the size of every national population and see whether the largest countries are projected to retain their position by 2050.

Countries and areas: 237
Highest-ranked: India
Rank 10: Ethiopia
Top-20 concentration: Asia

Estimate or projection?

The UN series provides historical estimates through 2023. Figures from 2024 onward—including 2026—are medium-scenario projections, not counts or predictions guaranteed to occur.

Complete most populous countries in 2026 ranking

Select any country to inspect its full age-by-sex structure and projections.

Most Populous Countries in 2026
Rank	Country or area	Region	2026 population	2050 projection
1	India	Asia	1,476,625,576	1,679,589,259
2	China	Asia	1,412,914,089	1,260,289,093
3	United States	Northern America	349,035,494	380,846,910
4	Indonesia	Asia	287,886,782	320,712,949
5	Pakistan	Asia	259,299,792	371,863,793
6	Nigeria	Africa	242,431,832	359,185,556
7	Brazil	Latin America and the Caribbean	213,562,666	217,489,300
8	Bangladesh	Asia	177,818,044	214,709,097
9	Russia	Europe	143,394,458	136,132,775
10	Ethiopia	Africa	138,902,185	225,021,874
11	Mexico	Northern America	132,997,658	148,946,274
12	Japan	Asia	122,427,731	105,123,167
13	Egypt	Africa	120,101,175	161,630,192
14	Philippines	Asia	117,724,472	134,373,439
15	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	116,452,162	218,246,072
16	Vietnam	Asia	102,177,431	110,008,908
17	Iran	Asia	93,168,497	101,861,993
18	Turkey	Asia	87,926,082	91,258,061
19	Germany	Europe	83,644,258	78,294,613
20	Tanzania	Africa	72,563,780	129,621,102
21	Thailand	Asia	71,559,614	66,382,735
22	United Kingdom	Europe	69,931,528	75,504,681
23	France	Europe	66,746,401	68,219,675
24	South Africa	Africa	65,453,084	79,177,328
25	Italy	Europe	58,926,166	51,891,098
26	Kenya	Africa	58,636,412	83,593,239
27	Myanmar	Asia	55,184,819	58,623,232
28	Colombia	Latin America and the Caribbean	53,936,226	59,385,356
29	Sudan	Africa	53,282,719	85,206,383
30	Uganda	Africa	52,761,470	85,431,202
31	South Korea	Asia	51,600,388	45,143,134
32	Algeria	Africa	48,028,334	59,565,554
33	Iraq	Asia	48,007,437	71,928,750
34	Spain	Europe	47,850,793	44,928,558
35	Argentina	Latin America and the Caribbean	46,003,734	48,308,944
36	Afghanistan	Asia	45,047,068	76,885,134
37	Yemen	Asia	42,961,653	70,976,403
38	Canada	Northern America	40,467,728	45,621,882
39	Angola	Africa	40,215,180	74,295,394
40	Ukraine	Europe	39,535,848	31,990,132
41	Morocco	Africa	38,762,441	43,440,431
42	Poland	Europe	37,843,188	32,814,096
43	Uzbekistan	Asia	37,724,223	52,210,755
44	Mozambique	Africa	36,639,850	63,530,952
45	Malaysia	Asia	36,385,115	44,289,772
46	Ghana	Africa	35,697,557	50,553,047
47	Saudi Arabia	Asia	35,165,787	47,693,910
48	Peru	Latin America and the Caribbean	34,922,148	40,583,876
49	Madagascar	Africa	33,522,052	53,185,475
50	Ivory Coast	Africa	33,494,346	55,746,985
51	Cameroon	Africa	30,640,817	51,096,317
52	Nepal	Asia	29,629,410	34,642,027
53	Niger	Africa	28,814,878	52,513,876
54	Venezuela	Latin America and the Caribbean	28,633,711	31,094,883
55	Australia	Oceania	27,227,096	32,506,969
56	North Korea	Asia	26,633,691	25,787,127
57	Syria	Asia	26,472,497	37,793,372
58	Mali	Africa	25,932,275	46,154,079
59	Burkina Faso	Africa	24,601,700	37,304,383
60	Sri Lanka	Asia	23,348,315	24,813,690
61	Taiwan	Asia	23,011,292	19,434,600
62	Malawi	Africa	22,785,535	37,361,683
63	Zambia	Africa	22,521,915	38,083,385
64	Chad	Africa	21,560,380	38,857,686
65	Kazakhstan	Asia	21,083,626	26,544,265
66	Somalia	Africa	20,305,907	37,206,512
67	Chile	Latin America and the Caribbean	19,945,850	20,320,306
68	Senegal	Africa	19,366,548	30,364,954
69	Guatemala	Latin America and the Caribbean	18,967,978	24,670,857
70	Romania	Europe	18,800,605	16,027,266
71	Netherlands	Europe	18,448,775	18,958,475
72	Ecuador	Latin America and the Caribbean	18,444,506	21,337,237
73	Cambodia	Asia	18,051,219	21,931,455
74	Zimbabwe	Africa	17,273,580	25,866,385
75	Guinea	Africa	15,441,992	23,404,584
76	Benin	Africa	15,170,420	24,433,809
77	Rwanda	Africa	14,889,693	22,707,910
78	Burundi	Africa	14,729,157	24,131,720
79	Bolivia	Latin America and the Caribbean	12,749,291	16,110,162
80	South Sudan	Africa	12,436,037	18,341,974
81	Tunisia	Africa	12,415,138	13,145,141
82	Haiti	Latin America and the Caribbean	12,037,506	14,710,862
83	Belgium	Europe	11,774,642	11,870,906
84	Dominican Republic	Latin America and the Caribbean	11,609,500	12,996,293
85	Jordan	Asia	11,589,532	16,367,354
86	United Arab Emirates	Asia	11,574,682	15,367,392
87	Honduras	Latin America and the Caribbean	11,184,760	14,846,778
88	Tajikistan	Asia	10,978,598	15,574,642
89	Papua New Guinea	Oceania	10,947,848	14,906,590
90	Cuba	Latin America and the Caribbean	10,892,659	9,382,000
91	Sweden	Europe	10,701,046	11,309,630
92	Czechia	Europe	10,527,780	9,825,544
93	Azerbaijan	Asia	10,454,855	11,224,923
94	Portugal	Europe	10,395,362	9,770,270
95	Togo	Africa	9,930,918	15,584,778
96	Greece	Europe	9,897,116	8,812,070
97	Israel	Asia	9,647,689	13,092,722
98	Hungary	Europe	9,585,818	8,725,347
99	Austria	Europe	9,107,266	8,724,332
100	Switzerland	Europe	9,007,798	9,342,586
101	Sierra Leone	Africa	8,996,744	12,948,325
102	Belarus	Europe	8,937,018	7,453,546
103	Laos	Asia	7,974,018	9,757,286
104	Turkmenistan	Asia	7,736,632	9,639,708
105	Libya	Africa	7,539,852	9,260,606
106	Kyrgyzstan	Asia	7,400,464	9,642,952
107	Hong Kong	Asia	7,378,602	6,090,619
108	Nicaragua	Latin America and the Caribbean	7,097,329	8,756,430
109	Paraguay	Latin America and the Caribbean	7,095,279	8,640,464
110	Bulgaria	Europe	6,667,660	5,402,217
111	Serbia	Europe	6,641,964	5,532,870
112	Republic of the Congo	Africa	6,637,786	11,006,472
113	El Salvador	Latin America and the Caribbean	6,391,254	6,663,346
114	Denmark	Europe	6,023,520	6,124,838
115	Singapore	Asia	5,905,748	6,081,692
116	Lebanon	Asia	5,897,467	6,999,260
117	Liberia	Africa	5,853,949	8,910,530
118	Central African Republic	Africa	5,698,984	10,616,752
119	State of Palestine	Asia	5,692,790	8,451,891
120	Oman	Asia	5,671,458	7,827,002
121	Norway	Europe	5,652,989	5,899,829
122	Finland	Europe	5,621,739	5,351,645
123	Mauritania	Africa	5,461,319	9,415,598
124	Slovakia	Europe	5,451,342	4,936,488
125	Ireland	Europe	5,356,950	5,970,042
126	New Zealand	Oceania	5,287,479	5,755,288
127	Costa Rica	Latin America and the Caribbean	5,174,789	5,354,150
128	Kuwait	Asia	5,102,773	6,367,756
129	Panama	Latin America and the Caribbean	4,625,718	5,630,680
130	Croatia	Europe	3,822,345	3,234,160
131	Georgia	Asia	3,804,642	3,664,014
132	Eritrea	Africa	3,682,669	5,696,062
133	Mongolia	Asia	3,556,798	4,501,493
134	Uruguay	Latin America and the Caribbean	3,382,537	3,254,354
135	Puerto Rico	Latin America and the Caribbean	3,222,688	2,503,994
136	Qatar	Asia	3,173,559	4,164,460
137	Namibia	Africa	3,153,246	4,512,300
138	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe	3,114,242	2,455,167
139	Moldova	Europe	2,961,253	2,351,809
140	Armenia	Asia	2,930,915	2,495,207
141	Gambia	Africa	2,884,079	4,301,895
142	Jamaica	Latin America and the Caribbean	2,833,404	2,454,940
143	Lithuania	Europe	2,797,338	2,258,774
144	Albania	Europe	2,751,025	2,240,166
145	Gabon	Africa	2,647,400	4,084,533
146	Botswana	Africa	2,603,388	3,437,430
147	Lesotho	Africa	2,389,336	2,993,076
148	Guinea-Bissau	Africa	2,297,808	3,438,608
149	Slovenia	Europe	2,114,574	1,981,553
150	Equatorial Guinea	Africa	1,984,468	3,143,728
151	Latvia	Europe	1,835,935	1,513,810
152	North Macedonia	Europe	1,804,062	1,512,688
153	Bahrain	Asia	1,675,572	2,139,464
154	Kosovo	Europe	1,666,992	1,643,619
155	Trinidad and Tobago	Latin America and the Caribbean	1,513,268	1,399,800
156	Timor-Leste	Asia	1,436,923	1,889,249
157	Cyprus	Europe	1,382,334	1,508,482
158	Estonia	Europe	1,331,062	1,174,267
159	Eswatini	Africa	1,269,859	1,505,331
160	Mauritius	Africa	1,265,059	1,107,197
161	Djibouti	Africa	1,199,459	1,530,540
162	Fiji	Oceania	937,282	1,000,261
163	Comoros	Africa	899,010	1,307,558
164	Réunion	Africa	886,298	941,413
165	Solomon Islands	Oceania	858,288	1,309,110
166	Guyana	Latin America and the Caribbean	840,890	940,608
167	Bhutan	Asia	802,214	882,340
168	Macao	Asia	723,188	668,860
169	Luxembourg	Europe	687,448	791,464
170	Suriname	Latin America and the Caribbean	645,256	733,904
171	Montenegro	Europe	626,233	533,295
172	Western Sahara	Africa	610,813	777,316
173	Malta	Europe	549,011	535,722
174	Maldives	Asia	531,517	589,962
175	Cabo Verde	Africa	529,630	566,134
176	Brunei	Asia	469,775	519,551
177	Belize	Latin America and the Caribbean	428,644	516,627
178	Bahamas	Latin America and the Caribbean	404,628	424,265
179	Iceland	Europe	402,329	432,993
180	Guadeloupe	Latin America and the Caribbean	372,453	326,318
181	Mayotte	Africa	347,536	645,426
182	Vanuatu	Oceania	342,564	534,388
183	Martinique	Latin America and the Caribbean	337,711	282,070
184	French Guiana	Latin America and the Caribbean	318,872	471,916
185	New Caledonia	Oceania	297,892	340,580
186	French Polynesia	Oceania	283,076	284,750
187	Barbados	Latin America and the Caribbean	282,724	264,216
188	Sao Tome and Principe	Africa	244,994	365,115
189	Samoa	Oceania	220,528	272,726
190	Curaçao	Latin America and the Caribbean	185,440	173,498
191	Saint Lucia	Latin America and the Caribbean	180,488	172,080
192	Guam	Oceania	170,185	191,458
193	Kiribati	Oceania	138,445	182,621
194	Seychelles	Africa	134,959	141,746
195	Grenada	Latin America and the Caribbean	117,362	113,244
196	Micronesia	Oceania	114,182	126,408
197	Aruba	Latin America and the Caribbean	108,164	100,002
198	Jersey	Europe	104,106	104,766
199	Tonga	Oceania	103,291	105,195
200	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Latin America and the Caribbean	99,244	88,942
201	Antigua and Barbuda	Latin America and the Caribbean	94,626	95,055
202	Isle of Man	Europe	84,054	77,970
203	Andorra	Europe	83,753	82,195
204	United States Virgin Islands	Latin America and the Caribbean	83,400	71,226
205	Cayman Islands	Latin America and the Caribbean	77,196	103,958
206	Dominica	Latin America and the Caribbean	65,511	63,192
207	Guernsey	Europe	64,610	62,800
208	Bermuda	Northern America	64,459	56,937
209	Faroe Islands	Europe	56,526	63,036
210	Greenland	Northern America	55,629	49,898
211	Turks and Caicos Islands	Latin America and the Caribbean	47,148	50,988
212	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Latin America and the Caribbean	46,992	44,249
213	American Samoa	Oceania	45,318	37,545
214	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	Latin America and the Caribbean	44,447	51,016
215	Northern Mariana Islands	Oceania	42,914	42,764
216	Gibraltar	Europe	40,867	49,798
217	Liechtenstein	Europe	40,368	43,013
218	British Virgin Islands	Latin America and the Caribbean	39,936	40,340
219	Monaco	Europe	38,087	36,757
220	Marshall Islands	Oceania	35,075	25,195
221	San Marino	Europe	33,605	33,696
222	Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba	Latin America and the Caribbean	31,913	34,742
223	Saint Martin (French part)	Latin America and the Caribbean	23,898	18,795
224	Palau	Oceania	17,614	15,518
225	Anguilla	Latin America and the Caribbean	14,817	14,552
226	Cook Islands	Oceania	12,826	9,337
227	Nauru	Oceania	12,101	15,758
228	Saint Barthélemy	Latin America and the Caribbean	11,550	12,789
229	Wallis and Futuna Islands	Oceania	11,113	10,148
230	Tuvalu	Oceania	9,362	9,780
231	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Northern America	5,513	4,258
232	Saint Helena	Africa	5,148	3,968
233	Montserrat	Latin America and the Caribbean	4,328	3,692
234	Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	Latin America and the Caribbean	3,465	3,176
235	Tokelau	Oceania	2,691	3,821
236	Niue	Oceania	1,822	1,966
237	Vatican City	Europe	506	714

Interpretation

What this ranking measures—and what it does not

Definition

Population is the UN estimate of people resident in a country or area on 1 July. This ranking uses the 2026 medium-scenario value, not a live population counter.

Why it matters

Population scale affects the number of people represented by even a small percentage. A one-point age-share change in a very large country can involve millions of people.

Read with care

Rank does not measure density, land area, economic size, or influence. Close totals should be treated as approximate because both are projections.

What stands out in the 2026 data

India leads with 1,476,625,576, while Ethiopia is tenth at 138,902,185. Among the top 20 entries, Asia appears most often, with 10 countries or areas.

Those positions describe this particular indicator and year. They do not imply that every country near the top has the same population pyramid or demographic path. Open the profiles below to compare the underlying cohorts.

India — rank 1, 1,476,625,576; 2050 projection 1,679,589,259.
China — rank 2, 1,412,914,089; 2050 projection 1,260,289,093.
United States — rank 3, 349,035,494; 2050 projection 380,846,910.
Indonesia — rank 4, 287,886,782; 2050 projection 320,712,949.
Pakistan — rank 5, 259,299,792; 2050 projection 371,863,793.

Questions about this ranking

Which country ranks first for 2026 population?

India ranks first in this comparison with 1,476,625,576. The ranking uses the UN WPP 2024 medium scenario for 2026.

Is 2026 observed population data?

No. In World Population Prospects 2024, historical estimates run through 2023 and values from 2024 onward are projections.

Why might another source show a different rank?

Sources can use different reference dates, revisions, country definitions, estimation methods, or projection scenarios. Close ranks can also change after revisions.