Data for 1956

Total Population, 1956

Name: Total Population, 1956
Creator: UN DESA Population Division
License: https://population.un.org/wpp/downloads

1956, as UN DESA Population Division’s 2024 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Total Population, 1956 covers 222 countries. China is highest, at 616,558,583; Vatican City is lowest, at 916. The middle country reads 2,127,103. Against 1955, 222 values changed (217 up, 5 down), the same countries are covered.

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Total Population · Data for 1956

HighestChina

616,558,583

LowestVatican City

916

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

222countries
1measure
1956the year it describes
222distinct valueswhole numbers, as published
Sep 26, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 3.0 IGOlicence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Total Population, 1956, as published. UN DESA Population Division ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 222 countries · select a heading to sort

Total Population, 1956: every country, as published by UN DESA Population Division.
derived
1	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	616,558,583
2	India`IND`Southern Asia	396,988,903
3	United States`USA`Northern America	168,824,960
4	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	112,909,103
5	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	93,342,008
6	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	79,282,549
7	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	70,613,903
8	Brazil`BRA`South America	64,033,995
9	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	51,400,459
10	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	48,401,952
11	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	46,854,417
12	France`FRA`Western Europe	44,588,519
13	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	41,716,055
14	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	41,113,929
15	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	40,419,152
16	Mexico`MEX`Central America	32,587,934
17	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	29,323,669
18	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	28,922,309
19	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	27,535,568
20	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	25,057,602
21	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	24,387,343
22	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	23,997,265
23	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	23,825,810
24	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	22,874,434
25	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	19,959,221
26	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	19,818,885
27	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	19,204,386
28	Argentina`ARG`South America	19,049,964
29	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	17,691,496
30	Canada`CAN`Northern America	16,159,622
31	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	14,880,686
32	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	13,929,951
33	Colombia`COL`South America	13,861,801
34	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	10,889,769
35	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	10,600,379
36	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	10,482,182
37	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	10,434,024
38	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	9,853,988
39	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	9,465,710
40	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	9,427,891
41	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	9,424,662
42	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	9,358,018
43	Peru`PER`South America	9,073,474
44	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	8,882,162
45	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	8,874,780
46	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	8,807,219
47	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	8,704,063
48	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	8,454,301
49	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	8,256,701
50	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	8,060,988
51	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	7,682,882
52	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	7,587,166
53	Chile`CHL`South America	7,489,533
54	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	7,401,592
55	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	7,315,517
56	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	7,252,039
57	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	7,156,626
58	Venezuela`VEN`South America	7,024,319
59	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	6,952,264
60	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	6,805,459
61	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	6,727,690
62	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	6,676,052
63	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	6,507,500
64	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	6,422,768
65	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	6,355,035
66	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	6,109,609
67	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	5,111,976
68	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	5,103,100
69	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	5,065,620
70	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	4,999,484
71	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	4,904,270
72	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	4,788,337
73	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	4,606,422
74	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	4,526,654
75	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	4,466,336
76	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	4,281,931
77	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	4,160,632
78	Ecuador`ECU`South America	4,114,534
79	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	4,110,124
80	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	4,082,601
81	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	3,868,269
82	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	3,789,579
83	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	3,631,182
84	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	3,594,803
85	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	3,551,386
86	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	3,461,066
87	Bolivia`BOL`South America	3,421,339
88	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	3,365,535
89	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	3,322,500
90	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	3,315,298
91	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	3,230,010
92	Niger`NER`Western Africa	3,124,749
93	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	3,015,551
94	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	2,988,932
95	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	2,883,755
96	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	2,870,023
97	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	2,831,238
98	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	2,817,656
99	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	2,787,410
100	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	2,754,592
101	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	2,656,809
102	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	2,607,334
103	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	2,598,367
104	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	2,594,257
105	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	2,555,308
106	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	2,518,165
107	Uruguay`URY`South America	2,398,368
108	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	2,380,892
109	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	2,314,882
110	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	2,184,843
111	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	2,147,979
112	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	2,106,227
113	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	2,019,505
114	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	1,989,620
115	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	1,937,229
116	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	1,865,439
117	Honduras`HND`Central America	1,840,666
118	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	1,787,439
119	Paraguay`PRY`South America	1,720,406
120	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	1,660,632
121	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	1,630,819
122	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	1,599,148
123	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	1,585,846
124	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	1,581,973
125	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	1,571,973
126	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	1,557,636
127	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	1,548,764
128	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	1,457,206
129	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	1,456,820
130	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	1,390,956
131	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	1,370,918
132	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	1,282,958
133	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	1,178,171
134	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	1,143,847
135	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	1,039,149
136	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	1,009,747
137	Panama`PAN`Central America	1,005,871
138	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	956,823
139	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	903,407
140	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	888,713
141	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	868,482
142	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	761,687
143	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	747,606
144	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	669,101
145	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	657,311
146	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	614,557
147	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	566,970
148	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	554,558
149	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	543,071
150	Guyana`GUY`South America	500,575
151	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	496,169
152	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	492,786
153	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	473,782
154	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	446,690
155	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	442,699
156	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	359,210
157	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	358,030
158	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	322,456
159	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	314,613
160	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	306,958
161	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	251,528
162	Suriname`SUR`South America	232,142
163	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	224,511
164	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	207,215
165	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	200,236
166	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	197,847
167	Macau`MAC`Eastern Asia	192,179
168	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	182,958
169	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	161,079
170	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	141,919
171	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	125,345
172	Curaçao`CUW`Caribbean	119,308
173	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	106,963
174	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	101,318
175	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	97,505
176	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	93,451
177	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	85,804
178	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	83,308
179	Belize`BLZ`Central America	82,072
180	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	76,326
181	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	75,391
182	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	74,054
183	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	70,615
184	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	69,548
185	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	65,225
186	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	64,970
187	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	59,099
188	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	57,925
189	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	53,986
190	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	52,974
191	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	52,059
192	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	51,382
193	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	50,063
194	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	42,991
195	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	40,600
196	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	40,343
197	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	38,080
198	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	32,324
199	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	30,132
200	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	29,524
201	Greenland`GRL`Northern America	27,181
202	Gibraltar`GIB`Southern Europe	21,846
203	Monaco`MCO`Western Europe	20,720
204	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	19,936
205	Cook Islands`COK`Polynesia	16,433
206	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	15,242
207	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	14,049
208	Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	13,570
209	Montserrat`MSR`Caribbean	12,389
210	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	8,593
211	Northern Mariana Islands`MNP`Micronesia	7,891
212	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	7,840
213	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	7,535
214	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	6,765
215	Anguilla`AIA`Caribbean	5,781
216	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	5,389
217	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	5,250
218	Niue`NIU`Polynesia	4,670
219	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	4,021
220	Saint Martin`MAF`Caribbean	3,723
221	Sint Maarten`SXM`Caribbean	2,077
222	Vatican City`VAT`Southern Europe	916

02In 1956

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1China616,558,583
2India396,988,903
3United States168,824,960
4Russia112,909,103
5Japan93,342,008

Lowest

222Vatican City916
221Sint Maarten2,077
220Saint Martin3,723
219Nauru4,021
218Niue4,670

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 2,127,103. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031955 → 1956

Since 1955

What changed between 1955 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
222values changed, of 222 in both
217 · 5rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

China603,547,007 → 616,558,583+13,011,576
India387,700,887 → 396,988,903+9,288,016
United States166,200,024 → 168,824,960+2,624,936
Indonesia77,273,507 → 79,282,549+2,009,042
Brazil62,101,388 → 64,033,995+1,932,607

Fell most

Ireland2,899,538 → 2,883,755−15,783
Macau195,442 → 192,179−3,263
Isle of Man52,776 → 52,059−717
Saint Lucia93,803 → 93,451−352
Montserrat12,482 → 12,389−93

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2024 release
Every year in this series comes from UN DESA Population Division’s 2024 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1956.
The position is ours
UN DESA Population Division publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 222 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
222 rows · 6.4 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download population-1956-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
UN DESA Population Division’s own file, on its own site.
WPP2024_TotalPopulationBySex.csv.gz

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

UN DESA Population Division (1956). Total Population, 1956 [data set], describing 1956. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/population/1956

0674 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Total Population, 1955
222 countries
The year after ›
Total Population, 1957
222 countries
All of them
Total Population: every year
74 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions