World People - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Population

7,772,850,805 (July 2021 est.)

top ten most populous countries (in millions): China 1397.89; India 1339.33; United States 334.99; Indonesia 275.12; Pakistan 238.18; Nigeria 219.47; Brazil 213.45; Bangladesh 164.1; Russia 142.32; Japan 124.69

ten least populous countries: Holy See (Vatican City) 1,000; Saint Pierre and Miquelon 5,321; Montserrat 5,387; Saint Barthelemy 7,116; Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan de Cunha 7,915; Cook Islands 8,327; Nauru 9,770; Tuvalu 11,448; Wallis and Futuna 15,851; Anguilla 18,403

ten most densely populated countries (population per sq km): Macau 22,514; Monaco 15,611; Singapore 8,273; Hong Kong 6,769; Gaza Strip 5,436; Gibraltar 4,216; Bahrain 2,009; Malta 1,458; Bermuda 1,335; Maldives 1,311

ten least densely populated countries (population per sq km): Greenland .027; Falkland Islands .26; Mongolia 2.1; Namibia 3.3; Australia 3.4; Iceland 3.5; Suriname 3.9; Mauritania 4; Libya 4; Guyana 4

Languages

most-spoken language: English 16.5%, Mandarin Chinese 14.6%, Hindi 8.3%, Spanish 7%, French 3.6%, Arabic 3.6%, Bengali 3.4%, Russian 3.4%, Portuguese 3.3%, Indonesian 2.6% (2020 est.)

most-spoken first language: Mandarin Chinese 12.3%, Spanish 6%, English 5.1%, Arabic 5.1%, Hindi 3.5%, Bengali 3.3%, Portuguese 3%, Russian 2.1%, Japanese 1.7%, Punjabi, Western 1.3%, Javanese 1.1% (2018 est.)

note 1: the six UN languages - Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), English, French, Russian, and Spanish (Castilian) - are the mother tongue or second language of about 45% of the world's population, and are the official languages in more than half the states in the world; some 400 languages have more than a million first-language speakers (2018)

note 2: all told, there are estimated to be just over 7,115 languages spoken in the world (2020); approximately 80% of these languages are spoken by less than 100,000 people; about 150 languages are spoken by fewer than 10 people; communities that are isolated from each other in mountainous regions often develop multiple languages; Papua New Guinea, for example, boasts about 840 separate languages (2018)

note 3: approximately 2,300 languages are spoken in Asia, 2,140, in Africa, 1,310 in the Pacific, 1,060 in the Americas, and 290 in Europe (2020)

Religions

Christian 31.1%, Muslim 24.9%, Hindu 15.2%, Buddhist 6.6%, folk religions 5.6%, Jewish

Age structure

0-14 years: 25.18% (male 1,010,373,278/female 946,624,579)

15-24 years: 15.29% (male 614,046,344/female 574,513,854)

25-54 years: 40.6% (male 1,597,805,095/female 1,557,807,873)

55-64 years: 9.23% (male 351,094,945/female 366,240,730)

65 years and over: 9.69% male 337,244,947/female 415,884,753) (2021 est.)

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 53.3

youth dependency ratio: 39

elderly dependency ratio: 14.3

potential support ratio: 7 (2020 est.)

Median age

total: 31 years

male: 30.3 years

female: 31.8 years (2020 est.)

Population growth rate

1.03% (2021 est.)

note: this rate results in about 154 net additions to the worldwide population every minute or 2.6 every second

Birth rate

18.1 births/1,000 population (2020 est.)

note: this rate results in about 259 worldwide births per minute or 4.3 births every second

Death rate

7.7 deaths/1,000 population (2020 est.)

note: this rate results in about 108 worldwide deaths per minute or 1.8 deaths every second

Population distribution

six of the world's seven continents are widely and permanently inhabited; Asia is easily the most populous continent with about 60% of the world's population (China and India together account for over 35%); Africa comes in second with over 15% of the earth's populace, Europe has about 10%, North America 8%, South America almost 6%, and Oceania less than 1%; the harsh conditions on Antarctica prevent any permanent habitation

Urbanization

urban population: 56.6% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 1.73% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas - population

ten largest urban agglomerations: Tokyo (Japan) - 37,393,000; New Delhi (India) - 30,291,000; Shanghai (China) - 27,058,000; Sao Paulo (Brazil) - 22,043,000; Mexico City (Mexico) - 21,782,000; Dhaka (Bangladesh) - 21,006,000; Cairo (Egypt) - 20,901,000; Beijing (China) - 20,463,000; Mumbai (India) - 20,411,000;  Osaka (Japan) - 19,165,000 (2020)

ten largest urban agglomerations, by continent:
Africa - Cairo (Egypt) - 20,485,000; Lagos (Nigeria) - 13,904,000; Kinshasha (DRC) - 13,743,000; Luanda (Angola) - 8,045,000; Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) - 6,368,000; Khartoum (Sudan) - 5,678,000; Johannesburg (South Africa) - 5,635,000; Alexandria (Egypt) - 5,182,000; Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire) - 5,059,000; Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) - 4,592,000

Asia - Tokyo (Japan) - 37,435,000; New Delhi (India) - 29,399,000; Shanghai (China) - 26,317,000; Dhaka (Bangladesh) - 20,284,000; Mumbai (India) - 20,185,000; Beijing (China) - 20,035,000; Osaka (Japan) - 19,223,000; Karachi (Pakistan) - 15,741,000; Chongqing (China) - 15,354,000; Istanbul (Turkey) - 14,968,000

Europe - Moscow (Russia) - 12,476,000; Paris (France) - 10,958,000; London (United Kingdom) - 9,177,000; Madrid (Spain) - 6,559,000; Barcelona (Spain) - 5,541,000, Saint Petersburg (Russia) -  5,427,000; Rome (Italy) - 4,234,000; Berlin (Germany) - 3,557,000; Athens (Greece) - 3,154,000; Milan (Italy) - 3,136,000

North America - Mexico City (Mexico) - 21,672,000; New York-Newark (United States) - 18,805,000; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana (United States) - 12,448,000; Chicago (United States) - 8,862,000; Houston (United States) - 6,245,000; Dallas-Fort Worth (United States) - 6,201,000; Toronto (Canada) - 6,139,000; Miami (United States) - 6,079,000; Philadelphia (United States) - 5,705,000; Atlanta (United States) - 5,689,000

Oceania - Melbourne (Australia) - 4,870,000, Sydney (Australia) - 4,859,000; Brisbane (Australia) - 2,372,000; Perth (Australia) - 2,016,000; Auckland (New Zealand) - 1,582,000; Adelaide (Australia) - 1,328,000; Gold Coast-Tweed Head (Australia) - 687,000; Canberra (Australia) - 452,000; Newcastle-Maitland (Australia) - 447,000; Wellington (New Zealand) - 413,000

South America - Sao Paulo (Brazil) - 21,847,000; Buenos Aires (Argentina) - 15,057,000; Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) - 13,374,000; Bogota (Colombia) - 10,779,000; Lima (Peru) - 10,555,000; Santiago (Chile) - 6,724,000; Belo Horizonte (Brazil) - 6,028,000; Brasilia (Brazil) - 4,559,000; Porto Alegre (Brazil) - 4,115,000; Recife (Brazil) - 4,078,000 (2019)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.07 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.07 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 1.03 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female

total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Maternal mortality rate

211 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 30.8 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 32.8 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 28.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2020 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 70.5 years

male: 68.4 years

female: 72.6 years (2020 est.)

Total fertility rate

2.42 children born/woman (2020 est.)

Drinking water source

improved: urban: 96.5% of population

rural: 84.7% of population

total: 91.1% of population

unimproved: urban: 3.5% of population

rural: 15.3% of population

total: 8.9% of population (2015 est.)

Current Health Expenditure

10% (2016)

Sanitation facility access

improved: urban: 82.3% of population

rural: 50.5% of population

total: 67.7% of population

unimproved: urban: 17.7% of population

rural: 49.5% of population

total: 32.3% of population (2015 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

0.7% (2020 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

37.7 million (2020 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

680,000 (2020 est.)

Major infectious diseases

note: widespread ongoing transmission of a respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is occurring globally; older adults and people of any age with serious chronic medical conditions are at increased risk for severe disease; some health care systems are becoming overwhelmed and there may be limited access to adequate medical care in affected areas; many countries are implementing travel restrictions and mandatory quarantines, closing borders, and prohibiting non-citizens from entry with little advance notice; US residents may have difficulty returning to the United States; as of 19 July 2021, 190,671,330 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 4,098,758 deaths have been reported to the World Health Organization; as of 19 July 2021, 26.5% of the World population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Education expenditures

N/A

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 86.3%

male: 89.8%

female: 82.8% (2018)

note: more than three-quarters of the world's 750 million illiterate adults are found in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa; of all the illiterate adults in the world, almost two-thirds are women (2016)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 12 years

male: 12 years

female: 12 years (2019)

NOTE: The information regarding World on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of World 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about World 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.