World ranking · 2026

Population growth rate by country, 2026

The world’s population grows +0.83% in 2026, down from +2.28% at its fastest in 1963. Growth is births minus deaths plus net migration.

Fastest growing

1. Central African Republic+3.28%
2. Somalia+3.24%
3. Niger+3.13%
4. DR Congo+3.13%
5. Syria+3.04%

Shrinking fastest

1. Moldova−0.98%
2. Bosnia and Herzegovina−0.84%
3. Lithuania−0.82%
4. Latvia−0.78%
5. Ukraine−0.74%

40 countries of a million people or more are shrinking.
18 are growing 2.5% a year or faster, enough to double in under 30 years.

Highest and lowest among countries of a million people or more.

On the map

Tap a country for its figures.

Orange countries are losing people, teal ones are growing; the darker, the faster.

Population growth, % a year

−1.0%−0.5%0.0%+0.5%+1.5%+2.5%

All 237 countries and areas

Population growth rate by country, 2026
#
1	Central African Republic	+3.28%	5,698,984
2	Somalia	+3.24%	20,305,907
3	Niger	+3.13%	28,814,878
4	DR Congo	+3.13%	116,452,162
5	Syria	+3.04%	26,472,497
6	Mayotte	+3.04%	347,536
7	Sudan	+3.03%	53,282,719
8	Angola	+2.95%	40,215,180
9	Mali	+2.85%	25,932,275
10	Oman	+2.82%	5,671,458
11	Tanzania	+2.79%	72,563,780
12	Mozambique	+2.79%	36,639,850
13	Yemen	+2.76%	42,961,653
14	Zambia	+2.72%	22,521,915
15	Afghanistan	+2.71%	45,047,068
16	Mauritania	+2.69%	5,461,319
17	Uganda	+2.62%	52,761,470
18	Chad	+2.60%	21,560,380
19	Tokelau	+2.60%	2,691
20	Malawi	+2.53%	22,785,535
21	Cameroon	+2.49%	30,640,817
22	Ethiopia	+2.48%	138,902,185
23	Benin	+2.36%	15,170,420
24	Madagascar	+2.34%	33,522,052
25	Côte d'Ivoire	+2.34%	33,494,346
26	Congo	+2.33%	6,637,786
27	Equatorial Guinea	+2.32%	1,984,468
28	Burundi	+2.31%	14,729,157
29	Solomon Islands	+2.30%	858,288
30	Senegal	+2.26%	19,366,548
31	Guinea	+2.21%	15,441,992
32	Liberia	+2.18%	5,853,949
33	Vanuatu	+2.16%	342,564
34	Burkina Faso	+2.15%	24,601,700
35	Gambia	+2.15%	2,884,079
36	Togo	+2.13%	9,930,918
37	Jordan	+2.12%	11,589,532
38	Rwanda	+2.12%	14,889,693
39	Guinea-Bissau	+2.10%	2,297,808
40	Eritrea	+2.07%	3,682,669
41	Gabon	+2.05%	2,647,400
42	Iraq	+2.05%	48,007,437
43	Nigeria	+2.03%	242,431,832
44	South Sudan	+2.02%	12,436,037
45	Sierra Leone	+1.96%	8,996,744
46	Sao Tome and Principe	+1.94%	244,994
47	Palestine	+1.90%	5,692,790
48	Kenya	+1.89%	58,636,412
49	Namibia	+1.89%	3,153,246
50	Zimbabwe	+1.88%	17,273,580
51	Bahrain	+1.81%	1,675,572
52	Comoros	+1.79%	899,010
53	Ghana	+1.77%	35,697,557
54	Uzbekistan	+1.75%	37,724,223
55	Tajikistan	+1.74%	10,978,598
56	Cayman Islands	+1.73%	77,196
57	Gibraltar	+1.73%	40,867
58	Saudi Arabia	+1.69%	35,165,787
59	United Arab Emirates	+1.69%	11,574,682
60	Papua New Guinea	+1.68%	10,947,848
61	Qatar	+1.65%	3,173,559
62	Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba	+1.65%	31,913
63	French Guiana	+1.65%	318,872
64	Botswana	+1.60%	2,603,388
65	Honduras	+1.59%	11,184,760
66	Pakistan	+1.59%	259,299,792
67	Western Sahara	+1.58%	610,813
68	Seychelles	+1.53%	134,959
69	Turkmenistan	+1.48%	7,736,632
70	Guatemala	+1.47%	18,967,978
71	Egypt	+1.44%	120,101,175
72	Kiribati	+1.41%	138,445
73	Kyrgyzstan	+1.40%	7,400,464
74	Kuwait	+1.39%	5,102,773
75	Vatican	+1.38%	506
76	Israel	+1.36%	9,647,689
77	Belize	+1.33%	428,644
78	Timor Leste	+1.31%	1,436,923
79	Djibouti	+1.31%	1,199,459
80	Bolivia	+1.31%	12,749,291
81	Nicaragua	+1.25%	7,097,329
82	Laos	+1.25%	7,974,018
83	Algeria	+1.20%	48,028,334
84	Bangladesh	+1.19%	177,818,044
85	Panama	+1.17%	4,625,718
86	Paraguay	+1.15%	7,095,279
87	Libya	+1.12%	7,539,852
88	Kazakhstan	+1.11%	21,083,626
89	Sint Maarten	+1.11%	44,447
90	Cambodia	+1.10%	18,051,219
91	Malaysia	+1.10%	36,385,115
92	Lesotho	+1.09%	2,389,336
93	Mongolia	+1.09%	3,556,798
94	Haiti	+1.08%	12,037,506
95	Eswatini	+1.08%	1,269,859
96	South Africa	+1.05%	65,453,084
97	Saint Barthelemy	+1.05%	11,550
98	Luxembourg	+0.99%	687,448
99	Peru	+0.97%	34,922,148
100	Andorra	+0.96%	83,753
101	Colombia	+0.92%	53,936,226
102	Iceland	+0.92%	402,329
103	Australia	+0.91%	27,227,096
104	Ireland	+0.88%	5,356,950
105	Faroe Islands	+0.87%	56,526
106	India	+0.86%	1,476,625,576
107	Ecuador	+0.84%	18,444,506
108	Lebanon	+0.84%	5,897,467
109	Morocco	+0.84%	38,762,441
110	New Caledonia	+0.83%	297,892
111	Suriname	+0.83%	645,256
112	Cyprus	+0.80%	1,382,334
113	Canada	+0.79%	40,467,728
114	Philippines	+0.79%	117,724,472
115	Mexico	+0.78%	132,997,658
116	Iran	+0.76%	93,168,497
117	Dominican Republic	+0.75%	11,609,500
118	Indonesia	+0.74%	287,886,782
119	Brunei	+0.72%	469,775
120	Bhutan	+0.70%	802,214
121	Guam	+0.69%	170,185
122	New Zealand	+0.65%	5,287,479
123	Nauru	+0.64%	12,101
124	Myanmar	+0.59%	55,184,819
125	Guyana	+0.58%	840,890
126	Turks and Caicos Islands	+0.58%	47,148
127	Liechtenstein	+0.57%	40,368
128	Singapore	+0.56%	5,905,748
129	Samoa	+0.56%	220,528
130	Vietnam	+0.55%	102,177,431
131	Azerbaijan	+0.53%	10,454,855
132	United Kingdom	+0.52%	69,931,528
133	Tunisia	+0.52%	12,415,138
134	Netherlands	+0.51%	18,448,775
135	Sri Lanka	+0.50%	23,348,315
136	United States	+0.49%	349,035,494
137	Anguilla	+0.47%	14,817
138	Reunion	+0.45%	886,298
139	British Virgin Islands	+0.44%	39,936
140	Micronesia	+0.43%	114,182
141	Antigua and Barbuda	+0.43%	94,626
142	Fiji	+0.43%	937,282
143	Cabo Verde	+0.42%	529,630
144	Venezuela	+0.42%	28,633,711
145	Switzerland	+0.42%	9,007,798
146	Chile	+0.41%	19,945,850
147	Costa Rica	+0.41%	5,174,789
148	El Salvador	+0.40%	6,391,254
149	Sweden	+0.39%	10,701,046
150	Bahamas	+0.38%	404,628
151	Malta	+0.37%	549,011
152	Norway	+0.37%	5,652,989
153	Maldives	+0.35%	531,517
154	Brazil	+0.34%	213,562,666
155	Niue	+0.33%	1,822
156	Argentina	+0.33%	46,003,734
157	Denmark	+0.31%	6,023,520
158	Turkey	+0.30%	87,926,082
159	Macao	+0.23%	723,188
160	North Korea	+0.22%	26,633,691
161	French Polynesia	+0.21%	283,076
162	Saint Lucia	+0.17%	180,488
163	Guernsey	+0.15%	64,610
164	Nepal	+0.14%	29,629,410
165	France	+0.14%	66,746,401
166	Saint Kitts and Nevis	+0.13%	46,992
167	Belgium	+0.12%	11,774,642
168	Jersey	+0.10%	104,106
169	Trinidad and Tobago	+0.10%	1,513,268
170	San Marino	+0.09%	33,605
171	Barbados	+0.03%	282,724
172	Grenada	+0.03%	117,362
173	Aruba	−0.02%	108,164
174	Curacao	−0.03%	185,440
175	Georgia	−0.06%	3,804,642
176	Austria	−0.07%	9,107,266
177	Uruguay	−0.07%	3,382,537
178	Isle of Man	−0.08%	84,054
179	Finland	−0.08%	5,621,739
180	Thailand	−0.09%	71,559,614
181	Spain	−0.10%	47,850,793
182	Falkland Islands	−0.12%	3,465
183	Slovenia	−0.13%	2,114,574
184	South Korea	−0.14%	51,600,388
185	Bermuda	−0.15%	64,459
186	Jamaica	−0.16%	2,833,404
187	Portugal	−0.16%	10,395,362
188	Slovakia	−0.16%	5,451,342
189	Czechia	−0.20%	10,527,780
190	China	−0.22%	1,412,914,089
191	Russia	−0.23%	143,394,458
192	Germany	−0.23%	83,644,258
193	Greenland	−0.23%	55,629
194	Mauritius	−0.27%	1,265,059
195	Palau	−0.30%	17,614
196	Kosovo	−0.31%	1,666,992
197	Hungary	−0.34%	9,585,818
198	Guadeloupe	−0.36%	372,453
199	Poland	−0.38%	37,843,188
200	Italy	−0.39%	58,926,166
201	Cuba	−0.42%	10,892,659
202	Tonga	−0.43%	103,291
203	Greece	−0.43%	9,897,116
204	Taiwan	−0.44%	23,011,292
205	Hong Kong	−0.46%	7,378,602
206	Puerto Rico	−0.47%	3,222,688
207	Estonia	−0.53%	1,331,062
208	Dominica	−0.53%	65,511
209	Montenegro	−0.54%	626,233
210	North Macedonia	−0.56%	1,804,062
211	Japan	−0.56%	122,427,731
212	Romania	−0.58%	18,800,605
213	Monaco	−0.58%	38,087
214	Croatia	−0.66%	3,822,345
215	Serbia	−0.66%	6,641,964
216	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	−0.68%	99,244
217	Belarus	−0.69%	8,937,018
218	Wallis and Futuna	−0.72%	11,113
219	Armenia	−0.72%	2,930,915
220	Bulgaria	−0.73%	6,667,660
221	Albania	−0.74%	2,751,025
222	Ukraine	−0.74%	39,535,848
223	Latvia	−0.78%	1,835,935
224	Martinique	−0.80%	337,711
225	Lithuania	−0.82%	2,797,338
226	Montserrat	−0.83%	4,328
227	Bosnia and Herzegovina	−0.84%	3,114,242
228	U.S. Virgin Islands	−0.89%	83,400
229	Moldova	−0.98%	2,961,253
230	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	−1.14%	5,513
231	Saint Helena	−1.15%	5,148
232	Tuvalu	−1.24%	9,362
233	Northern Mariana Islands	−1.30%	42,914
234	American Samoa	−1.54%	45,318
235	Cook Islands	−3.26%	12,826
236	Marshall Islands	−3.28%	35,075
237	Saint Martin	−4.16%	23,898

Questions

Which countries have a declining population?

40 countries of a million or more in 2026. The fastest falls: Moldova (−0.98%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (−0.84%), Lithuania (−0.82%), Latvia (−0.78%).

Which country has the fastest growing population?

Central African Republic, at +3.28% a year, then Somalia (+3.24%), Niger (+3.13%), DR Congo (+3.13%).

More rankings

Fertility rate by country · Birth rate by country · Median age by country · Life expectancy by country · Population density by country · Largest countries by area · Death rate by country · Infant mortality rate by country · Elderly population by country · Net migration rate by country · Urban population by country · Sex ratio by country · Population by country

United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant. 2026 figures are the medium-variant projection. Method