Population Milestones by Country 2025

The United Nations (UN) tracks significant changes in the number of people living in each country and estimates future population milestones.

India’s most recent population milestone is that it surpassed China in 2023 to become the world’s most populated country with 1.4 billion inhabitants. The UN estimates that by 2050, the population in India will reach 1.6 billion.

Between 1960 and 2023, China’s population grew from 667.07 million to 1.43 billion people, which was over a 113% increase. Because of the extreme population growth, China implemented a one-child policy in 1979 until 2015. In 2021, China began allowing families of up to three children.

The population of the United States in 1915 was 100 million people. By 1967, the US Census reported a population of 200 million. The UN projects that the number of people in the United States will grow by 2.3 million a year until 2030.

In 1904, the population of Indonesia was 40 million people and increased from 87.75 million to 275.50 million people between 1960 and 2022. The United Nations expects that the population in Indonesia will start declining by 2050.

Pakistan’s population in 1960 was nearly 45 million people and reached an all-time high of 240,485,658 people by 2022. The most populated cities in Pakistan include Karachi (pop. 24.5 million), Lahore (pop. 11.0 million), and Faisalabad (pop. 4.2 million).

The population of Nigeria was around 32 million people in 1950. The UN reported that between 1960 and 2022, Nigeria’s population grew by 384.2%. It’s estimated that the population in Nigeria will reach 733 million people by 2100.

Over the last 200 years, Brazil has seen a steady population growth. In 1800, Brazil’s population was around 3.3 people, and by 2023, 216,422,446 people lived in Brazil.

According to the United Nations, Russia’s population in 1960 was 119.90 million. In 2023, Russia saw a decline in population of 0.19% in 2023.

Mexico’s population grew from 27 million to 128 million between the years of 1960 and 2022. The UN estimates that the population in Mexico will reach 155.15 million.