Two arguments run at the same time about the world's population: that there are far too many of us, and that the rich world is running out of people. Both sides quote the same United Nations tables. So here are the tables - every country, every year since 1950, and the UN's projection to 2100 - drawn as a ledger of births, deaths and migration, so you can see which countries each side is looking at.
Countries with at least one million people. Click a name to pin it on the map.
All figures are from the United Nations' World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant: mid-year population, births, deaths and net migration for every country and area, estimated through and projected to 2100. The UN revises the whole series every two years, and this page refreshes from the published files on a schedule; the stamp at the top is the last run.
The ledger balances by construction: last year's population plus births, minus deaths, plus net migration, gives this year's, with small differences from rounding and mid-year timing. Net migration is inflows minus outflows; the UN does not publish the two separately for every country. At the world level migration sums to zero, so the world's line is births minus deaths alone. Growth is the change in mid-year population from one year to the next. Fertility is the total fertility rate, the number of children a woman would have at that year's age-specific rates; about 2.1 keeps a population level without migration. Projections are the UN's medium variant, one of several scenarios; the further out, the wider the range around them.