PRB

The 2024 World Population Data Sheet comes into a world experiencing increasingly lower fertility and population aging—globally, the total fertility rate (lifetime live births per woman) is 2.2, and 10% of the population is ages 65 and older. For some countries in East Asia, Europe, and Northern America, that share is about 20% or more.

The world today has more people ages 65 and older (800 million) than the entire population of Latin America and the Caribbean (661 million). A growing older adult population will bring an increase in noncommunicable diseases such as high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, and an increased need for caregiving. Primary health care—the Data Sheet’s special focus this year—includes preventive measures that are crucial to maintaining people’s health at all ages and in delaying the onset of age-related diseases. It also helps reduce the long-term burden on health systems.

But while some parts of the world are seeing their populations grow older, others remain youthful. People under age 15 claim 25% of the global population, with a total of over 2 billion—more than the entire population of Africa (just under 1.5 billion). Youthful countries in sub-Saharan Africa—where 41% of the population is under age 15—have a need for primary health care services that lower mortality among women and young children, such as maternity care and immunizations, and improve outcomes across the life course.

Investments in primary health care services can be critical to supporting populations with different age structures. Data about a population, like its age structure, number of health care workers, and percent of women with unmet need for family planning can help identify where resources are most needed to improve health outcomes. Read more about primary health care in the 2024 World Population Data Sheet’s special focus.

What’s new in the 2024 Data Sheet?

Special indicators unique to this year include:

• Health care workers per 10,000 population, including medical doctors, nursing and midwifery personnel, and community health workers.
• Hypertension controlled among those ages 30 to 79 (%).
• Universal health care service coverage index.
• Health spending per capita (US$), including total health spending and primary health care-specific spending.

Key findings from the 2024 Data Sheet

Population Growth and Decline

• The current global population of 8+ billion is projected to reach nearly 9.6 billion by 2050.
• Eastern Europe’s population is expected to decline 9% by 2050. Africa is projected to contribute 62% to global population growth between now and 2050.
• Nigeria’s current population of nearly 228 million is projected to grow to almost 352 million by 2050—a 54% increase.
• Tanzania’s population of 69 million today could increase by almost 90% by 2050, reaching 130 million.
• India—the most populous nation in the world—is expected to see its population increase, from 1.4 billion today to nearly 1.7 billion by 2050.
• South Korea’s current population of just under 52 million is projected to decrease by 2050 to just over 47 million.
• The population of South America is expected to grow by 35 million between 2024 and 2050.
• Iraq’s current population of 55 million is projected to increase to more than 69 million by 2050

Age Structure

• Ten percent of the world’s population is ages 65 and older, while 25% are under age 15.
• Sub-Saharan Africa is the world’s youngest region, with 41% of the population under age 15.
• Southern Europe is the oldest regions in the world, with 22% of it population ages 65 and older.
• Twenty-nine percent of Japan’s population is ages 65 and older, more than any country in the world except Monaco, whose share ages 65 and older is 36%.

Fertility

• The global total fertility rate—or average lifetime live births per woman—is 2.2. This rate varies widely by region, ranging from 5.5 in Middle Africa to 1.0 in East Asia.
• The total fertility rate varies significantly across countries. It is 6.1 in Niger, 4.6 in Yemen, 3.4 in Kenya, 2.0 in Peru, 1.6 in the United States and New Zealand, 1.1 in Spain and Poland, 1.0 in China and Ukraine, and 0.7 in South Korea.
• Around the world, 63% of married women ages 15 to 49 use some form of family planning method. The share is 78% in South America, 61% in South Asia, 50% in Northern Africa, and 45% in Eastern Africa.

Health and Health Care

• The Universal Health Care Service Coverage Index, which measures average coverage of essential primary health care services among general and most-disadvantaged populations from 0 (worst) to 100 (best), ranges widely from 27 for Somalia; 35 for Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Niger; 44 for Cameroon and Togo; to 54 for Nepal and Haiti; 63 for India; 81 for China; and 91 for Canada.
• The number of health care workers in nursing and midwifery per 10,000 population varies significantly across countries. Globally, there are 38 nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 population. This number is 137 in Australia, 119 in the United States, 61 in Moldova, 35 in China, 23 in Guatemala, and 6 in Kenya.
• The health spending on primary health care from all sources per capita (US$) ranges from $4,033 in Switzerland, $2,430 in the United Kingdom, $340 in Brazil, and $34 in Bangladesh to $13 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and $12 in Madagascar and Sudan.

How can you get a copy of the 2024 Data Sheet?

The World Population Data Sheet is freely available to the public. You can dive into the data in three ways:

• Explore the website.
• Download the booklet.
• Download the standard-size poster to have it printed at your local print shop like The UPS Store.

The Data Sheet has gone digital-only; print copies are no longer available.

The 2024 World Population Data Sheet was produced under the USAID-funded PROPEL Health project.