Our numbers on the most heavily-populated countries in the world may surprise you.
China and India are home to some 37% of the world's total population of about 6.5 billion. Together these two behemoths have 35% more people than the eight next most populated countries combined.
- China=1.3 billion (20.1%)
- India=1.1 billion (16.8%)
- Europ. Union*=457 million (7%)
- U.S.=300 million (4.6%)
- Indonesia=245 million (3.8%)
- Brazil=188 million (2.9%)
- Pakistan=166 million (2.5%)
- Bangladesh=147 million (2.3%)
- Russia=143 million (2.2%)
- Nigeria=132 million (2%)
*a group of countries
Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is the dollar value of a country's final output of goods and services in a year, divided by its population.
GDP per capital reflects the average income of a country's citizens. An important assumption of this statistic is that GDP is divided equally. Of course, in the real world this income is heavily weighted towards the upper and middle classes.
Knowing a country's GDP per capita is a good first step toward understanding the country's economic strengths and needs, as well as the general standard of living enjoyed by the average citizen.
Our list below shows GDP per capita for each of the ten most heavily populated countries. The number in brackets shows the rank of that country's GDP per capital as compared to other countries.
- China=$6,800 (rank:117)
- India=$3,300 (159)
- Europ. Union=$28,100 (30)
- U.S.=$41,800 (6)
- Indonesia=$3,600 (153)
- Brazil=$8,400 (92)
- Pakistan=$2,400 (173)
- Bangladesh=$2,100 (179)
- Russia=$11,100 (84)
- Nigeria=$1,400 (200)
And The Winners Are...
China and India can significantly increase their respective GDPs with even modest incremental improvements in GDP per capita. Given the high population densities in these countries, even a 1% improvement per capita will be multiplied by 1.3 billion and 1.1 billion respectively.
We can also see why Nigerian rebels might be upset that despite their country's wealth in oil (as discussed in our article Top Ten Oil Countries) Nigeria's high population remains poor and with few jobs - even in the oil industry.
Some Population Facts To Ponder
- In high-income countries, farmers make up less than 6% of the workforce, while in low- and middle-income countries combined, they represent nearly 60% of all workers.
- Developing countries account for almost $1 out of every $4 that industrial countries earn from their exports.
- Of the world's 6.5 billion people, some 1.5 billion live on less than $1 a day. Two billion more people are only marginally better off.
- About 60% of the people living on less than $1 a day live in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Sources: The World Factbook; The World Bank Group
