The World's Most Populous Countries 2017
Key Findings
About This Dataset
The World's Most Populous Countries 2017China (1,396), India (1,360) and United States (327) take the top three. Across the twenty shown, values run from 1,396 down to 71, a spread of 1,325. Only 36 separates China from India in second, 2.6% of the leading figure. 2 of the 20 reach half the leading figure, 698 or more. China stood at 1,388 in 2016, so its figure rose by 8 over the year. China also came first in 2016. Of the 20 in this table that also reported in 2016, 17 recorded a higher figure than the year before and 0 a lower one. The largest single move was India, from 1,344 to 1,360. The chart shows the twenty highest of 217 reporting countries, so it describes the top of the distribution rather than the world average.
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart
Methodology & source
- Data source
- World Bank
- Coverage
- 20 entities · 2017 · 20 observations
- Measure
- Population (Million)
- Last updated
- 7 September 2026
- Compiled by
- The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
- Values use the measure and unit named on this page. Consult the dataset description and cited source for coverage, definitions and any unit conversions. Displayed values may be rounded for readability.
- Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2017.
Data Sources & References
All external sources cited in this dataset
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How these countries rank across all our charts
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