The World's Most Populous Countries 2017

About This Dataset

The World's Most Populous Countries 2017
Countries ranked by population (million) in 2017, using World Bank figures for the 217 countries that reported that year. China leads on 1,396, ahead of India (1,360) and United States (327). 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 (1,396), 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.

Source:  World Bank

Key Findings

🏆
China leads in Population (Million) with 1,396 in 2017.
📊
Average Population (Million) in 2017: 268  ·  median: 125.
↔️
Gap in 2017: China is 19.7× larger than Thailand.

The World's Most Populous Countries 2017

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Data Insights

Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart

Admin
Data Points
20
20 categories  ·  1 year
Top Value
1,396
China
Population (Million) · 2017
Metrics
1
Population (Million)
Period
2017
Single year snapshot

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
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 2017.

Rankings & Full Data

20 records · Population (Million) · ranked by 2017

✓ 20 sourced
# Category 2017 Source
🥇 China 1,396
🥈 India 1,360
🥉 United States 327
4 Indonesia 267
5 Pakistan 223
6 Brazil 205
7 Nigeria 200
8 Bangladesh 162
9 Russia 145
10 Japan 127
11 Mexico 123
12 Ethiopia 110
13 Philippines 108
14 Egypt 104
15 Vietnam 95
16 DR Congo 87
17 Iran 85
18 Germany 83
19 Turkey 80
20 Thailand 71

Data Sources & References

All external sources cited in this dataset

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