1988 Population

In 1988, the world’s population was estimated at approximately 5.1 billion people. Asia was by far the most populous continent, home to over 3 billion individuals, with China and India alone accounting for more than 1 billion and around 850 million people respectively. Africa’s population was about 630 million, with Nigeria and Egypt as its most populous countries. Europe had roughly 720 million inhabitants, led by the Soviet Union (about 290 million) and Germany (over 60 million, counting both East and West). North America’s population approached 400 million, dominated by the United States (around 245 million) and Mexico (about 82 million). Latin America and the Caribbean together had close to 400 million people, with Brazil (over 140 million) as the regional giant. Oceania, including Australia and the Pacific Islands, had a much smaller share, with around 25 million people. These figures reflect a world experiencing rapid population growth, particularly in developing regions.

Rank	Country	Population	Population Density Per Square KM
1	China	1,117,284,539	119.8
2	India	826,061,889	277.8
3	United States	244,498,982	26.7
4	Indonesia	175,334,750	96.8
5	Russia	146,865,701	9
6	Brazil	144,963,227	17.3
7	Japan	122,613,000	336.4
8	Pakistan	110,446,491	143.3
9	Bangladesh	101,386,934	778.9
10	Nigeria	92,331,569	101.4
11	Mexico	81,540,513	41.9
12	Germany	78,030,572	223.8
13	Vietnam	64,211,347	207.1
14	Philippines	58,639,099	196.7
15	France	57,335,273	89.5
16	United Kingdom	57,095,731	236
17	Italy	56,711,103	192.8
18	Thailand	54,382,553	106.4
19	Turkey	54,356,391	70.6
20	Iran	53,835,124	35.1
21	Egypt	53,277,807	53.5
22	Ukraine	51,422,963	88.8
23	Ethiopia	44,576,402	40.7
24	South Korea	42,031,000	433.7
25	Spain	39,053,881	78.3
26	Burma	38,819,808	59.4
27	Poland	37,866,840	124.5
28	South Africa	36,806,860	30.3
29	Congo Kinshasa	36,669,267	16.2
30	Colombia	32,768,734	31.5
31	Argentina	32,099,320	11.7
32	Canada	26,894,800	3
33	Peru	24,018,405	18.8
34	Algeria	23,917,674	10
35	Morocco	23,526,173	32.8
36	Tanzania	23,520,361	26.6
37	Romania	22,768,897	99
38	Kenya	21,875,798	38.4
39	Taiwan	19,976,096	619.2
40	North Korea	19,768,912	164.2
41	Uzbekistan	19,624,686	46.1
42	Sudan	19,598,127	10.5
43	Venezuela	18,757,806	21.3
44	Nepal	17,713,762	123.6
45	Malaysia	17,142,702	52.2
46	Iraq	17,073,634	39
47	Kazakhstan	16,530,068	6.1
48	Sri Lanka	16,480,228	255
49	Australia	16,183,270	2.1
50	Uganda	15,559,122	78.9
51	Saudi Arabia	15,233,131	7.1
52	Netherlands	14,774,965	435.9
53	Ghana	14,052,097	61.8
54	Mozambique	13,744,669	17.5
55	Afghanistan	13,168,732	20.2
56	Chile	12,554,615	16.9
57	Syria	11,676,074	62.8
58	Yemen	11,591,069	22
59	Cameroon	11,118,682	23.5
60	Madagascar	10,941,840	18.8
61	Côte d'Ivoire	10,653,216	33.5
62	Hungary	10,442,500	116.5
63	Angola	10,424,709	8.4
64	Cuba	10,381,681	94.5
65	Czechia	10,313,782	133.5
66	Belarus	10,149,612	50
67	Greece	10,049,498	76.9
68	Portugal	9,920,611	108.5
69	Belgium	9,884,000	326.4
70	Ecuador	9,794,122	35.4
71	Zimbabwe	9,523,317	24.6
72	Bulgaria	8,982,025	82.8
73	Cambodia	8,796,548	49.8
74	Sweden	8,469,339	20.6
75	Guatemala	8,150,276	76.1
76	Mali	8,138,605	6.7
77	Malawi	8,079,332	85.9
78	Tunisia	7,917,820	51
79	Burkina Faso	7,843,764	28.6
80	Serbia	7,768,887	100.3
81	Austria	7,599,791	92.2
82	Niger	7,393,947	5.8
83	Azerbaijan	7,233,154	87.5
84	Zambia	7,214,352	9.7
85	Somalia	6,918,288	11
86	Senegal	6,912,268	35.9
87	Dominican Republic	6,763,135	140
88	Switzerland	6,709,508	167.8
89	Rwanda	6,692,714	271.3
90	Haiti	6,458,500	234.3
91	Bolivia	6,283,164	5.8
92	Chad	5,756,955	4.6
93	Hong Kong	5,628,407	5,245.5
94	Guinea	5,397,044	22
95	Georgia	5,320,248	76.3
96	Slovakia	5,223,222	108.6
97	Burundi	5,156,268	200.8
98	Denmark	5,129,516	120.9
99	South Sudan	5,100,482	7.9
100	Tajikistan	5,005,734	35.4
101	Finland	4,946,633	16.3
102	El Salvador	4,938,989	238.4
103	Honduras	4,517,983	40.4
104	Benin	4,517,201	40.8
105	Croatia	4,493,676	80.3
106	Kyrgyzstan	4,333,005	22.6
107	Moldova	4,289,659	130.4
108	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4,285,510	83.7
109	Israel	4,264,029	198.4
110	Norway	4,208,729	13.8
111	Sierra Leone	4,080,785	57
112	Laos	3,979,884	17.2
113	Paraguay	3,963,437	10
114	Libya	3,883,238	2.2
115	Papua New Guinea	3,786,148	8.4
116	Lithuania	3,673,950	58.6
117	Armenia	3,655,035	129.6
118	Ireland	3,529,600	51.2
119	Turkmenistan	3,492,186	7.4
120	Puerto Rico	3,474,992	391.8
121	Togo	3,407,600	62.7
122	Nicaragua	3,403,564	28.4
123	New Zealand	3,361,313	12.7
124	Lebanon	3,336,549	326.2
125	Albania	3,136,843	114.5
126	Uruguay	3,057,630	17.5
127	Jordan	2,966,869	33.4
128	Central African Republic	2,896,799	4.6
129	Eritrea	2,890,943	28.6
130	Costa Rica	2,874,123	56.3
131	Singapore	2,869,266	4,046.9
132	Latvia	2,664,068	42.8
133	Jamaica	2,422,363	223.7
134	Liberia	2,382,311	24.7
135	Panama	2,310,564	31.1
136	Congo Brazzaville	2,097,286	6.1
137	Mongolia	1,992,349	1.3
138	Kuwait	1,966,721	110.4
139	Slovenia	1,961,775	97.4
140	North Macedonia	1,858,920	73.1
141	Mauritania	1,848,504	1.8
142	Kosovo	1,790,565	164.5
143	Oman	1,670,760	5.4
144	Lesotho	1,641,096	54.1
145	United Arab Emirates	1,609,623	19.3
146	Estonia	1,569,187	37
147	Namibia	1,323,014	1.6
148	Trinidad and Tobago	1,200,006	234
149	Botswana	1,183,187	2.1
150	West Bank	1,165,357	206.6
151	Mauritius	1,044,942	514.7
152	Guinea-Bissau	950,432	33.8
153	Gabon	913,719	3.5
154	The Gambia	877,596	86.7
155	Eswatini	815,127	47.4
156	Guyana	768,009	3.9
157	Fiji	726,376	39.7
158	Cyprus	713,026	77.2
159	Timor-Leste	703,394	47.3
160	Bhutan	610,858	15.9
161	Gaza Strip	592,371	1,645.5
162	Montenegro	574,401	42.7
163	Bahrain	471,975	621
164	Djibouti	414,997	17.9
165	Suriname	411,262	2.6
166	Comoros	410,924	183.9
167	Qatar	401,964	34.7
168	Luxembourg	375,624	145.3
169	Malta	352,317	1,114.9
170	Equatorial Guinea	351,560	12.5
171	Macau	332,136	11,862
172	Cabo Verde	330,500	81.9
173	Solomon Islands	300,890	10.8
174	Barbados	260,097	604.9
175	Iceland	249,885	2.5
176	Brunei	238,878	45.4
177	The Bahamas	237,769	23.8
178	Maldives	200,075	671.4
179	French Polynesia	191,158	49.9
180	Belize	186,984	8.2
181	New Caledonia	161,942	8.9
182	Samoa	161,516	57.3
183	Curaçao	149,260	336.2
184	Vanuatu	146,117	12
185	Saint Lucia	135,495	223.6
186	Guam	127,545	234.5
187	Sao Tome and Principe	110,939	115.1
188	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	106,138	272.8
189	Federated States of Micronesia	101,343	144.4
190	U.S. Virgin Islands	100,952	290.1
191	Tonga	95,702	133.5
192	Grenada	94,286	274.1
193	Jersey	82,083	707.6
194	Dominica	71,338	95
195	Seychelles	69,195	152.1
196	Kiribati	67,493	83.2
197	Isle of Man	66,538	116.3
198	Antigua and Barbuda	64,427	145.4
199	Guernsey	60,484	775.4
200	Aruba	59,499	330.6
201	Bermuda	57,166	1,058.6
202	Greenland	54,853	0
203	Andorra	49,365	105.5
204	Faroe Islands	47,090	33.8
205	American Samoa	43,623	220.3
206	Marshall Islands	43,446	240
207	Saint Kitts and Nevis	42,188	161.6
208	Gibraltar	30,024	4,289.1
209	Monaco	29,241	14,620.5
210	Northern Mariana Islands	29,053	61.6
211	Liechtenstein	27,825	173.9
212	Saint Martin	24,873	460.6
213	Cayman Islands	24,500	92.8
214	Sint Maarten	24,475	719.9
215	San Marino	23,040	377.7
216	Cook Islands	17,909	75.9
217	British Virgin Islands	14,615	96.8
218	Palau	14,572	31.7
219	Wallis and Futuna	13,357	94.1
220	Montserrat	10,969	107.5
221	Turks and Caicos Islands	10,610	11.2
222	Nauru	9,100	433.3
223	Tuvalu	8,755	336.7
224	Anguilla	7,820	85.9
225	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	6,588	16.7
226	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	6,281	26
227	Saint Barthelemy	4,623	184.9

Data from US Census International Database