1981 Population

In 1981, the world’s population was approximately 4.5 billion people, reflecting significant growth since the mid-20th century. Asia was the most populous continent, home to more than half of the global population, with China (about 1 billion) and India (around 700 million) as the two most populous countries. Europe had roughly 700 million people, with the Soviet Union and Western European nations like Germany, France, and the United Kingdom among its largest populations. Africa’s population was about 470 million, with Nigeria and Egypt as leading countries in terms of population size. North America had around 365 million people, dominated by the United States (about 230 million) and Mexico. South America’s population was close to 260 million, with Brazil leading at over 120 million. Oceania, including Australia and the Pacific Islands, had the smallest share, with around 23 million people. These figures highlight the demographic imbalances and rapid growth trends that have continued to shape global population distribution.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	1,000,228,550	107.2
2	India	699,153,765	235.2
3	United States	229,465,714	25.1
4	Indonesia	153,464,782	84.7
5	Russia	139,899,972	8.5
6	Brazil	124,422,222	14.9
7	Japan	117,648,092	322.8
8	Pakistan	90,975,079	118
9	Bangladesh	85,726,506	658.6
10	Germany	78,401,830	224.9
11	Nigeria	77,466,996	85.1
12	Mexico	69,930,971	36
13	Italy	56,502,489	192.1
14	United Kingdom	56,382,597	233.1
15	France	55,454,695	86.6
16	Vietnam	54,902,677	177.1
17	Ukraine	50,235,677	86.7
18	Philippines	49,483,390	166
19	Thailand	48,014,098	94
20	Turkey	46,248,621	60.1
21	Egypt	44,196,104	44.4
22	Iran	41,450,841	27.1
23	South Korea	38,723,000	399.5
24	Spain	37,750,800	75.7
25	Ethiopia	37,720,093	34.4
26	Poland	35,901,961	118
27	Burma	33,981,811	52
28	South Africa	30,168,679	24.8
29	Congo Kinshasa	29,806,317	13.1
30	Argentina	28,848,055	10.5
31	Colombia	27,670,383	26.6
32	Canada	24,900,000	2.7
33	Romania	22,256,551	96.8
34	Morocco	19,985,353	27.9
35	Algeria	19,407,036	8.1
36	Tanzania	19,190,316	21.7
37	Taiwan	18,177,430	563.5
38	Peru	17,754,798	13.9
39	North Korea	17,674,671	146.8
40	Kenya	16,987,029	29.8
41	Uzbekistan	16,400,495	38.6
42	Sri Lanka	15,315,491	237
43	Sudan	15,238,102	8.2
44	Kazakhstan	15,203,036	5.6
45	Venezuela	15,166,255	17.2
46	Nepal	14,945,796	104.3
47	Australia	14,819,770	1.9
48	Netherlands	14,257,723	420.7
49	Malaysia	13,876,471	42.2
50	Iraq	13,703,103	31.3
51	Afghanistan	13,676,225	21
52	Mozambique	12,431,927	15.8
53	Uganda	12,385,498	62.8
54	Chile	11,175,845	15
55	Ghana	10,970,076	48.2
56	Hungary	10,711,848	119.5
57	Saudi Arabia	10,654,927	5
58	Czechia	10,297,904	133.3
59	Belgium	9,852,400	325.4
60	Portugal	9,850,079	107.7
61	Greece	9,729,350	74.5
62	Belarus	9,712,761	47.9
63	Cuba	9,705,971	88.4
64	Yemen	9,390,138	17.8
65	Cameroon	9,057,764	19.2
66	Syria	9,035,810	48.6
67	Madagascar	8,929,981	15.4
68	Bulgaria	8,869,441	81.8
69	Côte d'Ivoire	8,542,639	26.9
70	Angola	8,336,368	6.7
71	Sweden	8,320,485	20.3
72	Ecuador	8,141,078	29.4
73	Serbia	7,619,061	98.3
74	Austria	7,564,629	91.8
75	Zimbabwe	7,429,223	19.2
76	Cambodia	7,139,966	40.4
77	Mali	7,007,670	5.7
78	Guatemala	6,828,684	63.7
79	Tunisia	6,605,707	42.5
80	Burkina Faso	6,474,370	23.6
81	Switzerland	6,426,096	160.7
82	Azerbaijan	6,321,218	76.5
83	Malawi	6,288,068	66.8
84	Niger	6,238,323	4.9
85	Dominican Republic	5,831,334	120.7
86	Somalia	5,828,800	9.3
87	Senegal	5,754,381	29.9
88	Zambia	5,710,847	7.7
89	Haiti	5,595,388	203
90	Bolivia	5,545,224	5.1
91	Rwanda	5,307,835	215.2
92	Hong Kong	5,183,400	4,830.8
93	Denmark	5,121,572	120.7
94	Georgia	5,073,148	72.8
95	Slovakia	5,013,692	104.2
96	South Sudan	4,973,446	7.7
97	Finland	4,799,964	15.8
98	Chad	4,647,489	3.7
99	El Salvador	4,519,721	218.1
100	Burundi	4,454,149	173.4
101	Croatia	4,390,829	78.4
102	Guinea	4,389,818	17.9
103	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4,132,963	80.7
104	Norway	4,099,702	13.5
105	Tajikistan	4,072,967	28.8
106	Moldova	4,026,204	122.4
107	Israel	3,783,423	176
108	Kyrgyzstan	3,707,318	19.3
109	Benin	3,621,535	32.7
110	Honduras	3,544,237	31.7
111	Lithuania	3,462,341	55.2
112	Sierra Leone	3,451,781	48.2
113	Ireland	3,443,400	50
114	Laos	3,336,978	14.5
115	Paraguay	3,250,841	8.2
116	Puerto Rico	3,238,968	365.2
117	Armenia	3,198,217	113.4
118	Libya	3,197,888	1.8
119	New Zealand	3,185,450	12
120	Papua New Guinea	3,098,198	6.8
121	Lebanon	2,954,746	288.8
122	Uruguay	2,948,127	16.8
123	Turkmenistan	2,946,676	6.3
124	Nicaragua	2,898,649	24.2
125	Albania	2,724,272	99.4
126	Togo	2,719,567	50
127	Eritrea	2,639,252	26.1
128	Latvia	2,536,976	40.8
129	Singapore	2,535,368	3,576
130	Central African Republic	2,411,207	3.9
131	Costa Rica	2,357,285	46.2
132	Jordan	2,282,741	25.7
133	Jamaica	2,258,368	208.5
134	Panama	2,000,656	26.9
135	Liberia	1,913,336	19.9
136	Slovenia	1,839,256	91.3
137	North Macedonia	1,808,103	71.1
138	Congo Brazzaville	1,722,678	5
139	Mongolia	1,694,243	1.1
140	Mauritania	1,577,646	1.5
141	Kosovo	1,551,889	142.5
142	Estonia	1,493,318	35.2
143	Kuwait	1,432,188	80.4
144	Lesotho	1,404,088	46.3
145	Oman	1,249,511	4
146	Trinidad and Tobago	1,103,595	215.2
147	Namibia	1,074,087	1.3
148	United Arab Emirates	1,069,722	12.8
149	Mauritius	979,050	482.3
150	Botswana	934,438	1.6
151	West Bank	920,702	163.2
152	Guinea-Bissau	807,179	28.7
153	Guyana	759,693	3.9
154	Gabon	737,986	2.9
155	The Gambia	671,374	66.3
156	Fiji	646,772	35.4
157	Cyprus	638,047	69
158	Eswatini	631,273	36.7
159	Timor-Leste	575,554	38.7
160	Montenegro	560,090	41.6
161	Bhutan	478,409	12.5
162	Gaza Strip	467,811	1,299.5
163	Luxembourg	365,400	141.3
164	Malta	363,652	1,150.8
165	Bahrain	363,520	478.3
166	Suriname	360,931	2.3
167	Comoros	347,693	155.6
168	Djibouti	342,577	14.8
169	Cabo Verde	300,202	74.4
170	Equatorial Guinea	271,778	9.7
171	Macau	260,929	9,318.9
172	Barbados	252,366	586.9
173	Qatar	240,793	20.8
174	Solomon Islands	238,689	8.5
175	Iceland	230,803	2.3
176	The Bahamas	213,454	21.3
177	Brunei	192,831	36.6
178	Samoa	160,919	57
179	Maldives	157,246	527.7
180	French Polynesia	155,686	40.7
181	Belize	150,137	6.6
182	Curaçao	148,134	333.6
183	New Caledonia	142,500	7.8
184	Saint Lucia	123,995	204.6
185	Vanuatu	120,258	9.9
186	Guam	109,166	200.7
187	U.S. Virgin Islands	99,853	286.9
188	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	99,199	255
189	Sao Tome and Principe	96,443	100
190	Grenada	92,354	268.5
191	Tonga	92,329	128.8
192	Federated States of Micronesia	79,581	113.4
193	Jersey	76,245	657.3
194	Dominica	73,519	97.9
195	Antigua and Barbuda	68,264	154.1
196	Seychelles	64,695	142.2
197	Isle of Man	64,660	113
198	Aruba	60,308	335
199	Kiribati	58,445	72.1
200	Bermuda	54,911	1,016.9
201	Guernsey	53,415	684.8
202	Greenland	51,034	0
203	Faroe Islands	43,858	31.5
204	Saint Kitts and Nevis	43,484	166.6
205	Andorra	37,825	80.8
206	American Samoa	33,595	169.7
207	Marshall Islands	32,267	178.3
208	Gibraltar	29,274	4,182
209	Monaco	26,846	13,423
210	Liechtenstein	25,672	160.4
211	San Marino	21,710	355.9
212	Cayman Islands	17,898	67.8
213	Cook Islands	17,646	74.8
214	Northern Mariana Islands	17,576	37.2
215	Sint Maarten	13,898	408.8
216	Palau	13,408	29.2
217	Montserrat	11,787	115.6
218	British Virgin Islands	11,422	75.6
219	Wallis and Futuna	11,200	78.9
220	Saint Martin	7,868	145.7
221	Nauru	7,852	373.9
222	Turks and Caicos Islands	7,791	8.2
223	Tuvalu	7,560	290.8
224	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	6,577	16.7
225	Anguilla	6,557	72.1
226	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	6,014	24.9
227	Saint Barthelemy	3,000	120

Data from US Census International Database