1953 Population

In 1953, the world’s population was approximately 2.7 billion people, reflecting a period of steady post-war growth. Asia was already the most populous continent, home to over 1.4 billion people, with China and India together accounting for nearly one billion—China had around 582 million, while India had about 389 million. Europe’s population stood at roughly 547 million, with the Soviet Union, Germany, and the United Kingdom among its most populous countries. Africa’s population was about 224 million, still relatively small compared to its vast land area, while North America had around 172 million people, the majority living in the United States (about 160 million). Latin America and the Caribbean had a combined population of around 167 million, led by Brazil and Mexico. Oceania, including Australia and the Pacific Islands, had the smallest share, with about 13 million people. This demographic landscape set the stage for the rapid population increases that would characterize the latter half of the 20th century.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	584,374,120	62.7
2	India	389,691,318	131.1
3	United States	158,956,000	17.4
4	Russia	107,302,806	6.6
5	Japan	87,655,163	240.5
6	Indonesia	86,890,805	48
7	Germany	69,550,236	199.5
8	Brazil	58,197,231	7
9	United Kingdom	50,593,000	209.1
10	Italy	47,957,000	163
11	Bangladesh	47,652,925	366.1
12	France	43,518,191	68
13	Pakistan	43,372,063	56.3
14	Ukraine	38,541,349	66.5
15	Nigeria	33,944,600	37.3
16	Mexico	31,031,279	16
17	Spain	28,804,128	57.7
18	Vietnam	26,724,094	86.2
19	Poland	26,221,264	86.2
20	Philippines	22,999,187	77.1
21	Turkey	22,830,516	29.7
22	Egypt	22,754,580	22.9
23	Thailand	21,964,158	43
24	Ethiopia	21,223,618	19.4
25	South Korea	21,060,464	217.3
26	Burma	20,403,435	31.2
27	Argentina	18,230,816	6.7
28	Iran	17,747,610	11.6
29	Romania	16,847,000	73.3
30	Canada	15,183,375	1.7
31	South Africa	14,623,631	12
32	Congo Kinshasa	14,373,435	6.3
33	Colombia	12,749,619	12.3
34	Netherlands	10,500,550	309.8
35	Morocco	10,218,448	14.3
36	Hungary	9,595,000	107.1
37	Algeria	9,531,710	4
38	Nepal	9,280,389	64.7
39	Czechia	9,220,908	119.4
40	Australia	8,857,924	1.2
41	Taiwan	8,849,962	274.3
42	Belgium	8,777,873	289.9
43	North Korea	8,593,652	71.4
44	Portugal	8,578,950	93.8
45	Afghanistan	8,573,217	13.1
46	Tanzania	8,529,355	9.6
47	Peru	8,232,100	6.4
48	Sri Lanka	8,229,847	127.3
49	Greece	7,817,095	59.8
50	Belarus	7,666,821	37.8
51	Bulgaria	7,346,100	67.7
52	Kazakhstan	7,260,866	2.7
53	Sweden	7,171,461	17.5
54	Sudan	7,006,493	3.8
55	Austria	6,932,483	84.1
56	Malaysia	6,928,942	21.1
57	Uzbekistan	6,886,387	16.2
58	Kenya	6,646,268	11.7
59	Mozambique	6,552,276	8.3
60	Chile	6,492,774	8.7
61	Serbia	6,175,824	79.7
62	Cuba	6,128,797	55.8
63	Uganda	5,983,396	30.4
64	Ghana	5,731,008	25.2
65	Venezuela	5,674,259	6.4
66	Iraq	5,589,018	12.8
67	Cameroon	5,073,595	10.7
68	Yemen	5,061,153	9.6
69	Switzerland	4,878,000	122
70	Madagascar	4,839,248	8.3
71	Cambodia	4,809,293	27.2
72	Burkina Faso	4,517,639	16.5
73	Denmark	4,369,280	103
74	Angola	4,293,840	3.4
75	Finland	4,139,400	13.6
76	Saudi Arabia	4,081,572	1.9
77	Mali	3,910,303	3.2
78	Croatia	3,906,475	69.8
79	Syria	3,749,575	20.2
80	Tunisia	3,713,496	23.9
81	Georgia	3,687,436	52.9
82	Ecuador	3,642,591	13.2
83	Slovakia	3,598,761	74.8
84	Niger	3,437,066	2.7
85	Norway	3,360,888	11
86	Guatemala	3,269,226	30.5
87	Haiti	3,250,488	117.9
88	Zimbabwe	3,190,967	8.2
89	Azerbaijan	3,158,974	38.2
90	Côte d'Ivoire	3,037,159	9.6
91	Malawi	2,971,986	31.6
92	Ireland	2,947,311	42.8
93	Bolivia	2,944,968	2.7
94	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2,863,000	55.9
95	Senegal	2,810,131	14.6
96	South Sudan	2,736,374	4.2
97	Zambia	2,734,000	3.7
98	Chad	2,729,546	2.2
99	Guinea	2,704,514	11
100	Lithuania	2,593,918	41.4
101	Rwanda	2,586,573	104.9
102	Somalia	2,574,024	4.1
103	Dominican Republic	2,568,919	53.2
104	Moldova	2,505,504	76.2
105	Burundi	2,488,348	96.9
106	Uruguay	2,283,920	13
107	Hong Kong	2,242,200	2,089.7
108	Puerto Rico	2,204,000	248.5
109	Sierra Leone	2,172,336	30.3
110	El Salvador	2,099,130	101.3
111	New Zealand	2,047,391	7.7
112	Laos	1,995,462	8.6
113	Latvia	1,976,212	31.7
114	Kyrgyzstan	1,817,007	9.5
115	Benin	1,775,516	16.1
116	Tajikistan	1,684,446	11.9
117	Israel	1,666,336	77.5
118	Paraguay	1,597,419	4
119	Honduras	1,562,218	14
120	Slovenia	1,497,875	74.3
121	Papua New Guinea	1,487,108	3.3
122	Lebanon	1,478,915	144.6
123	Eritrea	1,457,971	14.4
124	Armenia	1,455,777	51.6
125	Jamaica	1,446,425	133.5
126	Albania	1,314,608	48
127	Central African Republic	1,309,382	2.1
128	North Macedonia	1,299,452	51.1
129	Turkmenistan	1,282,640	2.7
130	Togo	1,244,363	22.9
131	Nicaragua	1,201,514	10
132	Singapore	1,191,800	1,681
133	Estonia	1,140,395	26.9
134	Libya	1,051,835	0.6
135	Mauritania	1,032,021	1
136	Panama	962,188	12.9
137	Costa Rica	958,893	18.8
138	Liberia	884,145	9.2
139	Congo Brazzaville	870,325	2.5
140	Kosovo	816,259	75
141	Mongolia	813,728	0.5
142	West Bank	781,247	138.5
143	Lesotho	760,747	25.1
144	Trinidad and Tobago	678,300	132.3
145	Jordan	633,680	7.1
146	Guinea-Bissau	584,381	20.8
147	Mauritius	536,057	264.1
148	Oman	517,930	1.7
149	Cyprus	516,602	55.9
150	Namibia	497,453	0.6
151	Guyana	464,323	2.4
152	Timor-Leste	457,529	30.8
153	Botswana	448,377	0.8
154	Gabon	423,276	1.6
155	Montenegro	419,454	31.2
156	Malta	317,248	1,003.9
157	Fiji	312,528	17.1
158	Luxembourg	301,101	116.4
159	Eswatini	297,025	17.3
160	The Gambia	291,302	28.8
161	Gaza Strip	259,236	720.1
162	Suriname	225,966	1.4
163	Barbados	221,303	514.7
164	Equatorial Guinea	219,902	7.8
165	Macau	196,948	7,033.9
166	Bhutan	176,902	4.6
167	Kuwait	168,372	9.4
168	Cabo Verde	159,567	39.6
169	Comoros	157,062	70.3
170	Iceland	151,036	1.5
171	Bahrain	123,469	162.5
172	Solomon Islands	110,989	4
173	Curaçao	107,502	242.1
174	Samoa	89,031	31.6
175	Djibouti	85,680	3.7
176	Saint Lucia	83,198	137.3
177	Grenada	80,254	233.3
178	The Bahamas	79,487	7.9
179	United Arab Emirates	77,480	0.9
180	Maldives	77,273	259.3
181	Belize	72,143	3.2
182	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	71,885	184.8
183	Guam	68,700	126.3
184	French Polynesia	66,800	17.5
185	New Caledonia	60,581	3.3
186	Sao Tome and Principe	60,000	62.2
187	Jersey	58,702	506.1
188	Vanuatu	55,878	4.6
189	Dominica	54,149	72.1
190	Brunei	53,678	10.2
191	Aruba	52,585	292.1
192	Isle of Man	52,423	91.6
193	Tonga	50,808	70.9
194	Antigua and Barbuda	48,976	110.6
195	Saint Kitts and Nevis	47,207	180.9
196	Guernsey	45,898	588.4
197	Bermuda	40,385	747.9
198	Kiribati	35,485	43.8
199	Seychelles	34,176	75.1
200	Federated States of Micronesia	33,684	48
201	Faroe Islands	32,600	23.4
202	Qatar	31,053	2.7
203	U.S. Virgin Islands	26,900	77.3
204	Greenland	25,000	0
205	Gibraltar	23,416	3,345.1
206	American Samoa	19,200	97
207	Monaco	18,220	9,110
208	Cook Islands	15,597	66.1
209	Liechtenstein	14,050	87.8
210	San Marino	13,384	219.4
211	Montserrat	13,031	127.8
212	Marshall Islands	12,027	66.4
213	Palau	7,859	17.1
214	Wallis and Futuna	7,228	50.9
215	Northern Mariana Islands	6,973	14.8
216	Cayman Islands	6,656	25.2
217	British Virgin Islands	6,398	42.4
218	Andorra	5,591	11.9
219	Anguilla	5,345	58.7
220	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	5,254	13.3
221	Turks and Caicos Islands	5,033	5.3
222	Tuvalu	4,845	186.3
223	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	4,638	19.2
224	Nauru	3,404	162.1
225	Saint Martin	3,234	59.9
226	Sint Maarten	2,400	70.6
227	Saint Barthelemy	2,066	82.6

Data from US Census International Database