The World's Most Populous Countries 2018

About This Dataset

The World's Most Populous Countries 2018
Countries ranked by population (million) in 2018, using World Bank figures for the 217 countries that reported that year. China leads on 1,403, ahead of India (1,375) and United States (329). The resident population counted at mid-year, including everyone living in the country regardless of citizenship. Figures between censuses are projections, and the two largest are close enough that different sources disagree on the order.
Analysis

China (1,403), India (1,375) and United States (329) take the top three. Across the twenty shown, values run from 1,403 down to 71, a spread of 1,332. Only 28 separates China from India in second, 2.0% of the leading figure. 2 of the 20 reach half the leading figure, 702 or more. China stood at 1,396 in 2017, so its figure rose by 7 over the year. China also came first in 2017. Of the 20 in this table that also reported in 2017, 16 recorded a higher figure than the year before and 0 a lower one. The largest single move was India, from 1,360 to 1,375. The chart shows the twenty highest of 217 reporting countries, so it describes the top of the distribution rather than the world average.

Source:  World Bank

Key Findings

🏆
China leads in Population (Million) with 1,403 in 2018.
📊
Average Population (Million) in 2018: 271  ·  median: 126.
↔️
Gap in 2018: China is 19.8× larger than Thailand.

The World's Most Populous Countries 2018

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Data Insights

Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart

Admin
Data Points
20
20 categories  ·  1 year
Top Value
1,403
China
Population (Million) · 2018
Metrics
1
Population (Million)
Period
2018
Single year snapshot

Methodology & source

Data source
World Bank
Coverage
20 entities · 2018 · 20 observations
Measure
Population (Million)
Last updated
7 September 2026
Compiled by
The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
How the figures are calculated
  • Values are shown as reported by the source. Nothing is rescaled, rebased or converted — the only changes are thousand separators and decimals shown to two places.
  • Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2018.

Rankings & Full Data

20 records · Population (Million) · ranked by 2018

✓ 20 sourced
# Category 2018 Source
🥇 China 1,403
🥈 India 1,375
🥉 United States 329
4 Indonesia 270
5 Pakistan 227
6 Brazil 206
7 Nigeria 205
8 Bangladesh 164
9 Russia 145
10 Japan 127
11 Mexico 125
12 Ethiopia 113
13 Philippines 109
14 Egypt 106
15 Vietnam 96
16 DR Congo 90
17 Iran 86
18 Germany 83
19 Turkey 81
20 Thailand 71

Data Sources & References

All external sources cited in this dataset

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