Photo: Michelangelo · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale
Vatican City
Vatican City places highest on Adult Mortality (Probability of Dying Between 15 and 60) (top 4% worldwide) and lowest on Days Above 35°C (bottom 33%).
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Vatican City in the Nations Inquiry Country Index
Vatican City appears in 31 of the statistics tracked here, but is not placed in the Country Index: the index needs a standing on three quarters of its topics, and Vatican City is measured on too few of them. Every published reading below is unaffected.
At a glance
Population
496
people
since 1950
Land area
0.4
km²
since 1961
Life expectancy
82.98
years at birth
since 1950
The newest published figure for each, the year it describes and who published it, with a line showing how it has moved.
01The country
About Vatican City
Vatican City, a walled state on the right bank of the Tiber enclosed by Rome, is the territory of the Holy See, ruled by the Pope as an elected monarch. St Peter’s Basilica and its oval square, embraced by Bernini’s colonnades, face east towards the city; behind them the Apostolic Palace, the Sistine Chapel and the galleries of the Vatican Museums run north, and gardens cover much of the rest. There is a railway station and a heliport.
Tradition holds that the apostle Peter was crucified in Nero’s circus here, and Constantine built a basilica over the grave in the fourth century. After Arab raiders sacked it in 846, Pope Leo IV ringed the area with the Leonine Wall. Julius II began the new St Peter’s in 1506, the year the Swiss Guard arrived, and Michelangelo painted the Sistine ceiling in 1508–12. When Italian troops took Rome in September 1870, the popes withdrew behind these walls, until the Lateran Treaty of February 1929 created the city-state.
Citizenship comes with an office, not birth: cardinals, clergy, diplomats and the Swiss Guards, young Catholic Swiss men in blue, red and yellow stripes, hold it while they serve. When a pope dies or resigns, the cardinals meet in conclave in the Sistine Chapel, and smoke from its roof tells the crowd the outcome: black for no decision, white for a new pope. Museum tickets, donations from Catholics worldwide and stamps for collectors keep the state solvent.
Key facts about Vatican City
- Capital
- Vatican City
- Official languages
- French, Italian, Latin
- Currency
- euro (EUR)
- ISO code
- VAT · VA
- Domain · dialling
- .va · +379
As Wikidata records them. Official languages are the least consistent — some countries list only a national language, others every regional one. Sources and licences.
02Country Index 2026
Where it stands, topic by topic
Strongest first. Each position is Vatican City’s place among the countries with a standing on that topic, built from a few key statistics chosen to measure different things.
03Highs and lows
Where Vatican City stands out
The two ends of its own record: every statistic on which Vatican City sits within ten places of the best or worst in the world, plus its strongest and weakest readings overall. Each is turned into a percentile — its place among every country measured — which is what lets a hunger score and a press-freedom rank be compared at all.
Where Vatican City does best4
In the top third of all countries measured. 2 are within ten places of the best in the world, in a field of at least 50 countries — marked with that place.
- 1stDeaths in Organized Violencetop 35%
Position · derived 59th of 59 · 1 = worst · 0 · 2025
world median 0
- 10th
Position · derived 213th of 222 · 1 = worst · 40.81 · 2023
world median 133.7 (better)
- Life Expectancy at Birthtop 9%
Position · derived 20th of 222 · 82.98 · 2023
world median 74.63 (better) · ▼ 4 pts since 2013
- Life Expectancy at Age 65top 12%
Position · derived 28th of 222 · 20.73 · 2023
world median 16.39 (better) · ▼ 5 pts since 2013
Where Vatican City struggles most3
Nothing falls into the world's bottom third — these are Vatican City's weakest areas even so.
- Adolescent Birth Rate (Ages 15–19)bottom 47%
Position · derived 105th of 222 · 1 = worst · 30.71 · 2023
world median 27.46 (worse) · ▼ 13 pts since 2013
- PM2.5 Air Pollution Exposurebottom 49%
Position · derived 107th of 220 · 1 = worst · 14.7 · 2023
world median 14.45 (worse) · ▲ 9 pts since 2013
A band is a place among the countries each publisher scores, so Vatican City can move because other countries moved. See the Country Index for the full method.
04In context
Vatican City and its neighbours
A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place in the world ranking, not within the region.
Shares a land border with
Across Southern Europe
Every country in the sub-region, by its position in the world.
- 14
Slovenia - 22
Portugal - 27
Spain - 28
Malta - 30
Croatia - =31
Italy - 38
Greece - 50
Serbia - 53
Albania - 54
North Macedonia - =55
Montenegro - =62
Bosnia and Herzegovina - —
Andorranot placed - —
Gibraltarnot placed - —
Kosovonot placed - —
San Marinonot placed - —Vatican Citynot placed
05The evidence
Every statistic we hold for Vatican City
Grouped by topic. Each row gives the newest edition’s rank or position, the published value and the year the numbers describe. Select a statistic for this country’s row beside every other country, the world median and every edition.
Economy & Innovation1
- Scholarly ArticlesOurResearch · Articles with at least one author at an institution in the country (full counting)bottom 3%82025
Health & Wellbeing6
- Adolescent Birth Rate (Ages 15–19)UN DESA Population Division · Live births per 1,000 women aged 15–19105th of 222position · derived · 1 = worst30.712023
- Adult Mortality (Probability of Dying Between 15 and 60)UN DESA Population Division · Deaths before age 60 per 1,000 people alive at 15, at that year's death rates213th of 222position · derived · 1 = worst40.812023
- Days Above 35°CECMWF · Days a year with a maximum temperature above 35°C, averaged over the country’s landbottom 33%172025
- Life Expectancy at Age 65UN DESA Population Division · Further years a 65-year-old would live at current death rates28th of 222position · derived20.732023
- Life Expectancy at BirthUN DESA Population Division · Years a newborn would live at current death rates20th of 222position · derived82.982023
- PM2.5 Air Pollution ExposureAtmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis · Population-weighted PM2.5 concentration (µg/m³)107th of 220position · derived · 1 = worst14.72023
Gender & Equality1
- Sex Ratio at BirthUN DESA Population Division · Male births per 100 female birthsbottom 46%1052023
Peace & Security4
- Civilian Deaths in Organized ViolenceUCDP · Civilians killed in organized violence (people)top 37%02025
- Deaths in Non-State ConflictUCDP · Deaths in non-state conflict (people)top 43%02025
- Deaths in Organized ViolenceUCDP · Deaths in organized violence (people)59th of 59position · derived · 1 = worst02025
- Deaths in State-Based Armed ConflictUCDP · Deaths in state-based armed conflict (people)top 39%02025
Mobility & Trade4
- EmigrantsUN DESA Population Division · Migrants from the country living abroad, mid-year (people)bottom 1%3132024
- International MigrantsUN DESA Population Division · International migrants living in the country, mid-year (people)bottom 1%4962024
- Net Migration RateUN DESA Population Division · Net migrants per 1,000 populationtop 44%02023
Digital & Technology2
- GitHub DevelopersGitHub · Developer accounts located in the economy (as of quarter end)bottom 1%1802026
- GitHub RepositoriesGitHub · Public repositories located in the economy (as of quarter end)bottom 4%6042026
People & Population13
- Crude Birth RateUN DESA Population Division · Births per 1,000 populationbottom 1%4.2112023
- Crude Death RateUN DESA Population Division · Deaths per 1,000 populationtop 1%25.582023
- Mean Age at ChildbearingUN DESA Population Division · Mean age of mothers at the birth of their children (years)top 15%31.262023
- Median Age of the PopulationUN DESA Population Division · Median age (years)top 1%59.632023
- Population Aged 65 and OverUN DESA Population Division · Share of the total population aged 65 and over (%)top 1%44.72023
- Population DensityUN DESA Population Division · People per square kilometre of landtop 5%1,1262023
- Population Growth RateUN DESA Population Division · Population growth (% per year)bottom 2%-1.8162023
- Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation)UN DESA Population Division · Share of the population living in cities as the Degree of Urbanisation defines them (%)top 1%1002025
- Population Under Age 15UN DESA Population Division · Share of the total population aged 0–14 (%)bottom 1%6.0542023
- Sex Ratio of the Total PopulationUN DESA Population Division · Males per 100 femalesbottom 11%91.682023
- Total Dependency RatioUN DESA Population Division · People aged 0–14 and 65+ per 100 people aged 15–64top 1%103.072023
- Total Fertility RateUN DESA Population Division · Live births per womanbottom 4%12023
06Method
Sources and how to read them
How to read this page
- The scores and ranks belong to their publishers. Nothing is adjusted, rescaled or re-ranked; each is reproduced from the edition named beside it. Where a row says position · derived, the publisher ranks nobody on that measure and the position is ours, made by ordering the published score.
- Each statistic shows its newest edition, which is not always the edition the Country Index uses: the index pins every source to one data year so its average compares like with like.
How a standing is built from percentiles, why Vatican City can move because other countries moved, and why publishers measure between 120 and 215 countries each are set out in full in how a standing is made and what a standing cannot tell you.
Sources
- Statistics: 7 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.
- Capital, languages, currency, codes: Wikidata, public domain (CC0).
- Map and land borders: Natural Earth, public domain. Borders are de facto — where administration actually changes — not claimed.
Photographs
The photograph of Vatican City on this page comes from Wikimedia Commons and is shown in greyscale. The photographer and the licence are named beside each one.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Vatican City: country statistics, rankings and trends. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/vatican-city