Data for 1961

Total Population, 1961

Name: Total Population, 1961
Creator: UN DESA Population Division
License: https://population.un.org/wpp/downloads

1961, as UN DESA Population Division’s 2024 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Total Population, 1961 covers 222 countries. China is highest, at 655,773,486; Vatican City is lowest, at 917. The middle country reads 2,352,699. Against 1960, 222 values changed (216 up, 6 down), the same countries are covered.

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Total Population · Data for 1961

HighestChina

655,773,486

LowestVatican City

917

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

222countries
1measure
1961the 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, 1961, 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, 1961: every country, as published by UN DESA Population Division.
derived
1	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	655,773,486
2	India`IND`Southern Asia	446,564,729
3	United States`USA`Northern America	183,489,485
4	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	121,604,304
5	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	97,217,594
6	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	90,791,249
7	Brazil`BRA`South America	74,605,447
8	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	73,376,115
9	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	53,310,348
10	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	52,884,948
11	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	49,815,249
12	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	46,921,277
13	France`FRA`Western Europe	46,893,835
14	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	45,989,310
15	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	43,399,766
16	Mexico`MEX`Central America	37,890,118
17	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	33,409,059
18	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	30,699,567
19	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	29,979,689
20	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	29,119,238
21	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	28,792,621
22	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	27,650,334
23	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	27,600,898
24	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	26,852,951
25	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	22,210,581
26	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	22,125,726
27	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	21,906,102
28	Argentina`ARG`South America	20,726,276
29	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	18,422,514
30	Canada`CAN`Northern America	18,263,074
31	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	16,908,035
32	Colombia`COL`South America	16,095,203
33	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	15,662,374
34	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	11,990,713
35	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	11,931,085
36	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	11,639,365
37	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	11,628,883
38	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	11,453,500
39	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	10,500,443
40	Peru`PER`South America	10,475,123
41	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	10,318,396
42	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	10,187,886
43	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	10,026,513
44	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	9,899,372
45	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	9,742,085
46	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	9,573,390
47	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	9,214,083
48	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	9,158,211
49	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	8,888,374
50	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	8,634,941
51	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	8,517,711
52	Venezuela`VEN`South America	8,455,915
53	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	8,447,002
54	Chile`CHL`South America	8,324,802
55	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	8,320,433
56	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	8,164,443
57	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	7,987,770
58	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	7,938,300
59	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	7,862,217
60	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	7,519,998
61	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	7,387,117
62	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	7,194,553
63	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	7,162,667
64	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	7,086,057
65	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	6,834,936
66	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	6,771,394
67	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	5,655,232
68	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	5,571,168
69	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	5,482,283
70	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	5,434,123
71	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	5,301,583
72	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	5,246,158
73	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	5,239,273
74	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	4,848,224
75	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	4,815,466
76	Ecuador`ECU`South America	4,722,331
77	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	4,611,360
78	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	4,460,995
79	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	4,316,278
80	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	4,223,427
81	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	4,186,201
82	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	4,185,342
83	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	4,129,029
84	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	4,108,980
85	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	3,930,401
86	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	3,929,030
87	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	3,810,151
88	Bolivia`BOL`South America	3,778,731
89	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	3,715,534
90	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	3,619,551
91	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	3,609,657
92	Niger`NER`Western Africa	3,608,162
93	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	3,436,375
94	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	3,373,233
95	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	3,348,035
96	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	3,254,086
97	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	3,143,887
98	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	3,111,947
99	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	3,106,779
100	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	3,076,657
101	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	2,976,724
102	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	2,952,054
103	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	2,870,016
104	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	2,835,119
105	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	2,824,693
106	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	2,812,599
107	Uruguay`URY`South America	2,562,044
108	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	2,559,223
109	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	2,526,347
110	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	2,429,747
111	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	2,401,171
112	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	2,304,227
113	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	2,288,666
114	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	2,181,805
115	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	2,169,796
116	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	2,157,169
117	Honduras`HND`Central America	2,121,242
118	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	2,046,127
119	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	1,956,884
120	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	1,927,484
121	Paraguay`PRY`South America	1,927,394
122	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	1,850,084
123	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	1,836,451
124	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	1,734,580
125	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	1,702,717
126	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	1,698,791
127	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	1,695,400
128	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	1,673,261
129	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	1,670,461
130	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	1,618,560
131	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	1,555,699
132	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	1,455,171
133	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	1,377,920
134	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	1,235,168
135	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	1,167,717
136	Panama`PAN`Central America	1,159,870
137	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	1,090,928
138	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	1,084,389
139	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	1,011,421
140	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	1,009,284
141	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	995,573
142	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	897,591
143	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	863,144
144	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	846,167
145	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	758,824
146	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	692,529
147	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	603,067
148	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	595,514
149	Guyana`GUY`South America	582,568
150	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	582,532
151	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	539,854
152	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	527,942
153	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	518,266
154	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	477,827
155	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	475,291
156	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	417,406
157	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	408,930
158	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	353,264
159	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	345,945
160	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	330,849
161	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	316,342
162	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	274,896
163	Suriname`SUR`South America	272,791
164	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	233,148
165	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	230,602
166	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	215,087
167	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	201,201
168	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	178,998
169	Macau`MAC`Eastern Asia	173,323
170	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	172,346
171	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	142,912
172	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	137,989
173	Curaçao`CUW`Caribbean	134,296
174	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	122,197
175	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	115,496
176	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	95,335
177	Belize`BLZ`Central America	93,632
178	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	93,490
179	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	93,450
180	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	92,517
181	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	89,390
182	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	85,870
183	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	85,434
184	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	82,521
185	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	71,311
186	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	68,707
187	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	68,037
188	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	66,264
189	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	60,209
190	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	56,540
191	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	55,578
192	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	55,334
193	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	48,451
194	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	48,323
195	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	44,610
196	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	44,108
197	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	43,123
198	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	39,680
199	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	35,433
200	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	34,557
201	Greenland`GRL`Northern America	33,417
202	Monaco`MCO`Western Europe	21,901
203	Gibraltar`GIB`Southern Europe	21,872
204	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	20,666
205	Cook Islands`COK`Polynesia	18,038
206	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	16,860
207	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	15,799
208	Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	15,219
209	Montserrat`MSR`Caribbean	11,963
210	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	10,283
211	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	9,555
212	Northern Mariana Islands`MNP`Micronesia	8,995
213	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	8,601
214	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	8,034
215	Anguilla`AIA`Caribbean	5,822
216	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	5,648
217	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	5,622
218	Niue`NIU`Polynesia	4,849
219	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	4,774
220	Saint Martin`MAF`Caribbean	4,386
221	Sint Maarten`SXM`Caribbean	2,970
222	Vatican City`VAT`Southern Europe	917

02In 1961

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1China655,773,486
2India446,564,729
3United States183,489,485
4Russia121,604,304
5Japan97,217,594

Lowest

222Vatican City917
221Sint Maarten2,970
220Saint Martin4,386
219Nauru4,774
218Niue4,849

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 2,352,699. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031960 → 1961

Since 1960

What changed between 1960 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
222values changed, of 222 in both
216 · 6rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

India435,990,338 → 446,564,729+10,574,391
United States180,274,555 → 183,489,485+3,214,930
Indonesia88,296,070 → 90,791,249+2,495,179
Brazil72,388,126 → 74,605,447+2,217,321
Russia119,934,141 → 121,604,304+1,670,163

Fell most

Hong Kong3,094,840 → 3,076,657−18,183
Ireland2,827,689 → 2,824,693−2,996
Saint Kitts and Nevis55,810 → 55,334−476
Isle of Man48,868 → 48,451−417
Montserrat12,034 → 11,963−71

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 1961.
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-1961-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 (1961). Total Population, 1961 [data set], describing 1961. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/population/1961

0674 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Total Population, 1960
222 countries
The year after ›
Total Population, 1962
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