Data for 1978

Total Population, 1978

Name: Total Population, 1978
Creator: UN DESA Population Division
License: https://population.un.org/wpp/downloads

1978, as UN DESA Population Division’s 2024 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Total Population, 1978 covers 222 countries. China is highest, at 956,161,485; Vatican City is lowest, at 740. The middle country reads 3,354,629. Against 1977, 222 values changed (208 up, 14 down), the same countries are covered.

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Total Population · Data for 1978

HighestChina

956,161,485

LowestVatican City

740

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

222countries
1measure
1978the 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, 1978, 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, 1978: every country, as published by UN DESA Population Division.
derived
1	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	956,161,485
2	India`IND`Southern Asia	655,728,229
3	United States`USA`Northern America	225,396,096
4	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	141,953,163
5	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	136,979,087
6	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	116,576,944
7	Brazil`BRA`South America	115,600,942
8	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	83,889,655
9	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	78,115,360
10	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	76,307,379
11	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	69,326,532
12	Mexico`MEX`Central America	63,979,046
13	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	56,175,556
14	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	55,938,965
15	France`FRA`Western Europe	53,429,668
16	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	50,249,552
17	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	49,521,243
18	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	45,575,281
19	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	43,788,976
20	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	43,645,306
21	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	41,761,431
22	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	37,281,935
23	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	37,126,535
24	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	36,904,967
25	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	34,934,213
26	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	33,734,592
27	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	31,972,976
28	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	27,869,507
29	Argentina`ARG`South America	27,132,158
30	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	24,992,689
31	Colombia`COL`South America	24,950,337
32	Canada`CAN`Northern America	23,978,738
33	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	21,868,067
34	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	18,477,385
35	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	17,976,566
36	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	17,735,995
37	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	17,506,974
38	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	17,373,728
39	Peru`PER`South America	16,516,059
40	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	15,695,003
41	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	14,934,126
42	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	14,839,695
43	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	14,816,349
44	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	14,711,497
45	Venezuela`VEN`South America	14,416,684
46	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	14,367,098
47	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	14,310,128
48	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	13,953,921
49	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	13,611,441
50	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	12,753,355
51	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	12,692,113
52	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	12,328,157
53	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	11,248,450
54	Chile`CHL`South America	11,172,695
55	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	10,660,188
56	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	10,618,250
57	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	10,200,749
58	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	9,791,817
59	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	9,711,980
60	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	9,556,395
61	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	9,485,805
62	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	9,389,967
63	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	8,926,586
64	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	8,813,746
65	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	8,475,864
66	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	8,372,759
67	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	8,275,788
68	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	8,011,921
69	Ecuador`ECU`South America	7,736,167
70	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	7,716,931
71	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	7,603,130
72	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	7,576,734
73	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	7,561,204
74	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	7,229,651
75	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	6,590,984
76	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	6,561,534
77	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	6,543,575
78	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	6,309,390
79	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	6,282,038
80	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	6,075,078
81	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	5,810,132
82	Niger`NER`Western Africa	5,782,932
83	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	5,568,096
84	Bolivia`BOL`South America	5,504,123
85	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	5,465,374
86	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	5,451,882
87	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	5,402,580
88	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	5,381,902
89	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	5,211,653
90	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	5,104,343
91	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	5,091,796
92	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	5,035,171
93	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	4,885,727
94	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	4,877,854
95	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	4,814,892
96	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	4,754,069
97	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	4,752,246
98	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	4,609,020
99	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	4,411,366
100	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	4,394,114
101	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	4,127,657
102	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	4,100,338
103	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	4,078,240
104	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	4,058,673
105	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	3,970,294
106	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	3,768,508
107	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	3,718,305
108	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	3,584,523
109	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	3,560,396
110	Honduras`HND`Central America	3,505,463
111	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	3,380,074
112	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	3,329,183
113	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	3,171,740
114	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	3,145,517
115	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	3,142,244
116	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	3,114,153
117	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	3,080,314
118	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	3,052,526
119	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	3,012,807
120	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	3,003,714
121	Uruguay`URY`South America	2,925,715
122	Paraguay`PRY`South America	2,899,269
123	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	2,822,682
124	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	2,691,088
125	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	2,646,501
126	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	2,624,621
127	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	2,497,362
128	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	2,397,961
129	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	2,360,602
130	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	2,264,510
131	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	2,094,836
132	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	2,083,595
133	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	1,879,847
134	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	1,868,518
135	Panama`PAN`Central America	1,866,311
136	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	1,818,247
137	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	1,748,089
138	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	1,619,468
139	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	1,522,378
140	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	1,516,249
141	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	1,458,224
142	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	1,392,713
143	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	1,389,496
144	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	1,340,319
145	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	1,327,240
146	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	1,093,380
147	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	947,269
148	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	925,277
149	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	900,304
150	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	849,239
151	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	809,274
152	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	791,694
153	Guyana`GUY`South America	764,586
154	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	711,245
155	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	672,249
156	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	667,103
157	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	628,775
158	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	612,091
159	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	573,516
160	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	558,446
161	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	405,243
162	Suriname`SUR`South America	381,502
163	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	361,046
164	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	339,061
165	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	328,046
166	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	317,688
167	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	316,147
168	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	280,031
169	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	276,531
170	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	251,551
171	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	241,808
172	Macau`MAC`Eastern Asia	236,207
173	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	223,761
174	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	223,572
175	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	222,029
176	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	174,884
177	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	161,375
178	Curaçao`CUW`Caribbean	156,254
179	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	156,159
180	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	146,821
181	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	146,392
182	Belize`BLZ`Central America	138,713
183	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	115,834
184	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	109,963
185	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	105,424
186	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	102,775
187	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	97,204
188	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	96,305
189	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	93,794
190	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	91,615
191	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	72,754
192	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	72,724
193	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	64,987
194	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	64,038
195	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	62,398
196	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	61,719
197	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	59,864
198	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	53,431
199	Greenland`GRL`Northern America	49,751
200	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	43,217
201	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	41,968
202	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	32,735
203	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	31,076
204	Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	28,809
205	Gibraltar`GIB`Southern Europe	28,446
206	Monaco`MCO`Western Europe	26,605
207	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	24,348
208	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	21,026
209	Cook Islands`COK`Polynesia	17,849
210	Northern Mariana Islands`MNP`Micronesia	16,130
211	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	15,727
212	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	12,440
213	Montserrat`MSR`Caribbean	11,437
214	Sint Maarten`SXM`Caribbean	11,039
215	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	10,886
216	Saint Martin`MAF`Caribbean	7,822
217	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	7,298
218	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	7,083
219	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	6,957
220	Anguilla`AIA`Caribbean	6,561
221	Niue`NIU`Polynesia	3,757
222	Vatican City`VAT`Southern Europe	740

02In 1978

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1China956,161,485
2India655,728,229
3United States225,396,096
4Indonesia141,953,163
5Russia136,979,087

Lowest

222Vatican City740
221Niue3,757
220Anguilla6,561
219Tuvalu6,957
218Turks and Caicos Islands7,083

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 3,354,629. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031977 → 1978

Since 1977

What changed between 1977 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
222values changed, of 222 in both
208 · 14rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

India640,801,103 → 655,728,229+14,927,126
China943,546,375 → 956,161,485+12,615,110
Indonesia138,533,541 → 141,953,163+3,419,622
Brazil112,875,292 → 115,600,942+2,725,650
Pakistan73,901,827 → 76,307,379+2,405,552

Fell most

Cambodia5,668,551 → 5,211,653−456,898
Germany78,185,559 → 78,115,360−70,199
Austria7,567,336 → 7,561,204−6,132
Suriname385,067 → 381,502−3,565
Grenada97,017 → 96,305−712

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 1978.
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-1978-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 (1978). Total Population, 1978 [data set], describing 1978. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/population/1978

0674 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Total Population, 1977
222 countries
The year after ›
Total Population, 1979
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