The Harvest Fields • Statistics 2025
compiled by Stephen Ross

Therefore said He unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers into His harvest. Luke 10:2

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. John 4:35

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:20a

Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15b

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 1 John 4:14

Harvest Fields Index
Population Statistics: Country Statistics:
World's Total Largeyyy1st Countries
Continent/Region Largest Urban Areas
Birth Rate 40%+ Under 15 Years Old
Death Rate Lowest Life Expectancy
Average Life Expectancy Muslim Countries
Age Structure Roman Catholic Countries
Major Religions References
Languages  

Population Statistics

World Population Estimate5
8,116,144,610

For most up-to-date estimate, see U.S. and World Population Clock, United States Census Bureau.

The United Nations (U.N.) Population Division estimates that in 1 AD, there were 300 million people in the world; in 1250, 400 million; in 1500, 500 million. According to UN estimates, the world population reached 1 billion in 1804; rose to 2 billion 123 years later, in 1927; to 3 billion 33 years after that, in 1960; to 4 billion in 1975; to 5 billion in 1987; to 6 billion in 1999; to 7 billion in 2011; and to 8 billion in 2022.

The UN put the world population in mid-2024 at about 8.2 billion. It projects that the population will grow until it peaks at 10.3 billion people in the mid-2080s before starting to decline gradually.2By 2080, the global number of persons 65 and over would exceed the number of children under age 18. These demographic changes are being driven by factors such as declines in ferility in some of the most populous countries, like China.

"To give a point of reference for the magnitude of one billion, it would require forty thousand trips around the world to equal one billion miles."4

Population by Continent/Region (2024 est.)2
Asia 4,736,387098
Africa 1,485,428,913
Europe (incl. Russia) 742,080,904
Latin America* 666,921,5467
North America** 380,893,904
Oceania (incl. Australia) 45,523,826
Antarctica no indigenous inhabitants
*Includes South America, Central America and the Caribbean.
**Includes the United States and Canada.
Note: Six of the world's seven continents are widely and permanently inhabited; Asia is the most populous continent with about 60% of the world's population (China and India together account for over 35%); Africa comes in second with over 15%, Europe has about 10%, North America 8%, South America almost 6%, and Oceania less than 1%; the harsh conditions on Antarctica prevent any permanent habitation.1

World Birth/Death Rates (2024 est.)1
Birth Rate: Death Rate:
17 births/1,000 population 7.9 deaths/1,000 population
135 million births each year 56.8 million people die each year
368,600 births each day 155,500 people die each day
15,360 births each hour 6480 people die each hour
260 births each minute 121 people die each minute
4.3 births each second 2 people die each second

Average Life Expectancy at Birth is 70.5 years
(male: 68.4 years; female: 72.6 years)1

Age Structure of World's Population (2024 est.)1
0-14 years: 24.5% (male 1,018,005,046/female 958,406,907)
15-64 years: 65.2% (male 2,658,595,672/female 2,592,930,538)
65 years and over: 10.3% (male 370,253,736/female 459,044,344)

Country Statistics

Ten Largest Countries in Population (2025 est.)5

There are approximately 228 inhabited countries and territories in the world. India is the most populous nation with 1/5 of the world's people. About half the world's people live in the first six largest countries listed below.

India 1,419,316,933
China 1,407,181,209
United States 342,034,432
Indonesia 283,587,097
Pakistan 257,047,044
Nigeria 242,794,751
Brazil 221,359,387
Bangladesh 170,183,916
Russia 140,134,279
Mexico 131,741,347

The 20 Largest Built-Up Urban Areas in the World3
Urban Area, Country Population*
1. Tokyo-Yokohama, Japan 37,785,000
2. Jakarta, Indonesia 35,386,000
3. Delhi, DL-UP-HR, India 31,190,000
4. Guangzhou-Foshan, China 27,119,000
5. Mumbai (Bombay), India 25,189,000
6. Manila, Philippines 24,156,000
7. Shanghai, China 24,042,000
8. Seoul-Incheon, South Korea 23,225,000
9. Cairo, Egypt 22,679,000
10. Mexico City, Mexico 21,905,000
11. Kolkata, India 21,747,000
12. São Paulo, Brazil 21,486,000
13. New York, NY-NJ-CT, U.S. 21,396,000
14. Karachi, Pakistan 20,249,000
15. Dhaka, Bangladesh 19,134,000
16. Bangkok, Thailand 18,884,000
17. Beijing, BJ-HEB, China 18,883,000
18. Moscow, Russia 17,878,000
19. Shenzhen, China 17,778,000
20. Buenos Aires, Argentina 15,748,000

*Population figures for the world's largest cities differ from one statistical source to another because of the different concepts used (i.e. urban area, urban agglomerations, metropolitan areas, etc.)


Countries With 40% or More of the Population 0-14 Years of Age1
Country Population
0-14 Years of Age (%)
Afghanistan 40%
Angola 47
Benin 45
Burkina Faso 42
Burundi 42
Cameroon 42
Chad 46
Congo, Democratic Republic of the 46
Guinea 41
Guinea-Bissau 42
Mali 47
Mozambique 45
Niger 50
Nigeria 40
Senegal 41
Sierra Leone 40
Somalia 41
South Sudan 42
Sudan 40
Tanzania 41
Uganda 47
Zambia 42

Note: The age structure of a population affects a nation's key socioeconomic issues. Countries with young populations (high percentage under age 15) need to invest more in schools, while countries with older populations (high percentage ages 65 and over) need to invest more in the health sector.


Countries With Lowest Life Expectancy (2024 est.)1
(under 60 yrs.)
Country Life Expectancy (yrs.)
Afghanistan 54.4 yrs.
Central African Republic 56.4
Mozambique 58.3
Sierra Leone 59.4
Somalia 56.5

Countries with the Largest Muslim Populations2
Rank Country Muslim Population % of Country's Population
1 Pakistan 238,085,000 95.3%
2 Indonesia 219,304,000 77.8
3 India 199,536,000 13.7
4 Bangladesh 156,531,000 88.7
5 Nigeria 108,279,000 46.2
6 Egypt 104,966,000 90.3
7 Iran 88,692,000 98.1
8 Turkey 84,992,000 98.0
9 Sudan 46,486,000 91.8
10 Iraq 46,344,000 97.5
11 Algeria 46,002,000 98.0
12 Afghanistan 44,452,000 99.9
13 Ethiopia 43,635,000 32.8
14 Morocco 38,438,000 99.7
15 Yemen 35,720,000 99.2
16 Uzbekistan 34,354,000 95.0
17 Saudi Arabia 34,273,000 90.2
18 China 28,412,000 2.0
19 Niger 28,040,000 95.6
20 Syria 24,269,000 95.4
21 Tanzania 23,678,000 33.1
22 Mali 21,666,000 87.5
23 Somalia 19,253,000 99.8
24 Malaysia 19,239,000 54.9
25 Senegal 17,085,000 91.4

Countries with Largest Percentage of Muslims1
Country % of Muslims
Afghanistan 99.7% (predominantly Sunni)
Albania 57
Algeria 99 (official; predominantly Sunni)
Azerbaijan 97 (predominantly Shia)
Bahrain 74
Bangladesh 91
Brunei 82 (official)
Burkina Faso 64
Comoros 98
Djibouti 94
Egypt 90 (predominantly Sunni)
Gambia, The 96
Gaza Strip 98-99 (predominantly Sunni)
Guinea 85
Indonesia 87
Iran 99.6 (official; predominantly Shia)
Iraq 95-98 (official)
Jordan 97 (official; predominantly Sunni)
Kazakhstan 70
Kosovo 96
Kuwait 75 (official)
Kyrgyzstan 90 (majority Sunni)
Lebanon 68
Libya 97 (official; Sunni)
Malaysia** 64 (official)
Maldives Sunni Muslim (official)
Mali 94
Mauritania 100 (official)
Morocco 99 (official; Sunni)
Niger 96
Nigeria* 54
Oman 86
Pakistan 97 (official)
Qatar 65
Saudi Arabia 95-100 (official)
Senegal 97
Sierra Leone 77
Somalia 99.9 (official, Sunni)
Sudan Sunni Muslim
Syria 87 (official)
Tajikistan 98 (predominantly Sunni)
Tunisia 99 (official, Sunni)
Turkey 99.8
Turkmenistan 93
United Arab Emirates 75 (official)
Uzbekistan 88 (mostly Sunni)
West Bank 80-85 (predominantly Sunni)
Yemen 99 (official)

*5th Largest Muslim Population in World; **23rd Largest Muslim Population in World.


Countries with Largest Percentage of Roman Catholics1
Country % of Roman Catholics
Argentina 63%
Aruba 75
Austria 55
Belgium 57
Bolivia 65
Brazil 53
Burundi 59
Colombia 64
Croatia 79
Ecuador 68
Equatorial Guinea 88
Gibraltar 72
Ireland 69
Italy 81
Liechtenstein (official) 73
Lithuania 74
Luxembourg 71
Malta 90 (official)
Mexico 78
Paraguay 80
Peru 66.4
Philippines 79
Poland 85
Portugal 80
Puerto Rico 56
Sao Tome and Principe 56
Seychelles 76
Slovakia 56
Slovevnia 69
Spain 58
Timor-Leste 98
Venezuela 96

Major Religions of the World (July 2024)2
Christians 2,645,317,000 32.3%
  Roman Catholics 1,272,775,000 15.5%
  Protestants 628,862,000 7.7%
  Independents* 409,425,000 5.0%
  Orthodox 291,580,000 3.6%
Muslims** 2,061,718,000 25.2%
Hindus 1,129,155,000 13.8%
Buddhists 538,173,000 6.6%
Chinese folk-religionists 448,283,000 5.5%
Sikhs 31,433,000 0.4%
Jews 15,357,000 0.2%

Christians are usually baptized members of a church belonging to one of the major Christian traditions shown here. Those characterized as independents belong to groups that consider themselves independent of historical mainstream institutionalized Christianity; these include groups such as Unitarians, Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints, and Jehovah's Witnesses.
**Sunnis—1,843,183,000; Shiites—201,700,000.

Languages of the World

1. There are 7,168 known living languages in the world (2023).
2. About 40% of the world's people speak one of the eight most common languages: Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, Arabic, English, Hindi, Bengali, DPortuguese, Russian as their first language.
3. "Approximately 80% of the languages are spoken by less than 100,000 people; about 150 languages are spoken by less then 10 people; communities that are isolated from each other in mountainous regions often develop multiple languages; Papua New Guinea, for example, boasts about 840 separate languages." (2018)
4. Roughly 40% of languages are now endangered, often with fewer than 1,000 users remaining. Meanwhile, just 23 languages account for more than half the world's population.
4. Approximately 2,300 languages are spoken in Asia, 2,140 in Africa, 1,310 in the Pacific, 1,060 in the Americas, and 290 in Europe (2020).
5. "Asia has the most indigenous languages, closely followed by Africa. Combined, they account for nearly 2/3 of the world's languages."
Sources: The World Factbook (CIA); Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 27th ed.; The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2025.

References

1. The World Factbook (CIA).
2. The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2025, ©2024.
3. Demographia World Urban Areas. 19th edition. August, 2023.
4. Biblical Missions: History, Principles, Practice by Roy F. Dearmore. Garland, Tex.: Rodgers Baptist Church, ©1997.
5. U.S. and World Population Clock, United States Census Bureau.



about | contact | terms of use

©1996-2025 WholesomeWords.org
"...to the glory of God."