The Harvest Fields • Statistics 2024
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 Largest 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    Languages References

Population Statistics

World Population Estimate5
8,022,318,919

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; and to 7 billion in 2011.2

The UN put the world population in mid-2023 at about 8.05 billion. It projects that the population will reach 9 billion in 2037 and 10 billion in 2058.2

Between 2023 and 2050, eight countries are expected to account for more than half the increase in the world population: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Tanzania. Almost all increases in population under age 65 will occur in low-income and lower-middle-income countries. In high-income and upper-middle-income countries, growth will be in the population age 65 and older (10% in 2023).2

"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 (2023 est.)2
Asia 4,699,843,209
Africa 1,446,531,252
Europe (incl. Russia) 748,613,648
Latin America* 661,046,777
North America** 378,317,402
Oceania (incl. Australia) 44,909,722
Antarctica no indigenous inhabitants
*Includes South America, Central America and the Caribbean.
**Includes the United States and Canada.
Note: Asia is easily 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% of the earth's populace, Europe
has about 10%, North America 8%, South America almost 6%, and
Oceania less than 1%;

World Birth/Death Rates (2020 est.)1
Birth Rate: Death Rate:
18 births/1,000 population 7.7 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
259 births each minute 108 people die each minute
4.3 births each second 1.8 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 (2023 est.)1
0-14 years: 24.7% (male 1,013,862,872/female 954,310,632)
15-64 years: 65.2% (male 2,632,261,828/female 2,569,677,967)
65 years and over: 10.1% (male 359,529,609/female 448,106,332)

Country Statistics

Ten Largest Countries in Population (July 2023 est.)1

There are approximately 228 inhabited countries and territories in the world. China 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.

China 1,413,140,000
India 1,339,920,000
United States 339,670,000
Indonesia 279,480,000
Pakistan 247,650,000
Nigeria 230,840,000
Brazil 218,690,000
Bangladesh 167.180,000
Russia 141,700,000
Mexico 129,880,000

The 20 Largest Built-Up Urban Areas in the World3
Urban Area 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

Note: 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 43
Cameroon 42
Chad 46
Congo, Democratic Republic of the 46
Congo, Republic of the 40
Gaza Strip 40
Guinea 41
Guinea-Bissau 43
Liberia 43
Mali 47
Mozambique 45
Niger 50
Nigeria 41
Senegal 41
Sierra Leone 41
Somalia 42
South Sudan 42
Sudan 40
Tanzania 42
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 (2023 est.)1
(under 60 yrs.)
Country Life Expectancy (yrs.)
Afghanistan 54.1 yrs.
Central African Republic 56
Chad 59.6
Lesotho 59.9
Mozambique 57.7
Sierra Leone 59.1
Somalia 56.1
South Sudan 59.7

Countries with the Largest Muslim Populations2
Rank Country Muslim Population % of Country's Population
1 Pakistan 230,135,000 96.7%
2 Indonesia 226,505,000 79.6
3 India 215,654,000 15.1
4 Bangladesh 151,843,000 88.8
5 Nigeria 106,673,000 46.8
6 Egypt 99,291,000 90.4
7 Iran 86,575,000 98.5
8 Turkey 84,833,000 98.3
9 Algeria 45,878,000 98.2
10 Sudan 44,552,000 92.4
11 Ethiopia 43,345,000 34.2
12 Iraq 43,176,000 97.7
13 Afghanistan 42,555,000 99.9
14 Morocco 38,485,000 99.7
15 Uzbekistan 33,912,000 96.3
16 Saudi Arabia 33,227,000 90.3
17 Yemen 32,224,000 99.2
18 Niger 27,146,000 96.7
19 China 26,345,000 1.8
20 Tanzania 21,824,000 32.6
21 Syria 20,960,000 95.6
22 Mali 20,316,000 89.3
23 Malaysia 18,969,000 55.8
24 Russia 18,566,000 12.8
25 Somalia 17,827,000 99.9

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 88
Brunei 82 (official)
Burkina Faso 64
Comoros 98
Djibouti 94
Egypt 90 (predominantly Sunni)
Gambia, The 96
Gaza Strip 98-99 (predominantly Sunni)
Guinea 89
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** 61 (official)
Maldives Sunni Muslim (official)
Mali 94
Mauritania 100 (official)
Morocco 99 (official; Sunni)
Niger 99
Nigeria* 54
Oman 86
Pakistan 97 (official)
Qatar 65
Saudi Arabia 95-100 (official)
Senegal 97
Sierra Leone 77
Somalia Sunni Muslim (official)
Sudan Sunni Muslim
Syria 87 (official)
Tajikistan 98 (predominantly Sunni)
Tunisia 99 (official, Sunni)
Turkey 99.8
Turkmenistan 93
United Arab Emirates 76 (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 50
Burundi 59
Chile 60
Colombia 92
Croatia 86
Ecuador 69
Equatorial Guinea 88
Gibraltar 72
Ireland 69
Italy 81
Liechtenstein 73
Lithuania 74
Luxembourg 71
Malta 90 (official)
Mexico 78
Paraguay 80
Peru 60
Philippines 79
Poland 85
Portugal 80
Sao Tome and Principe 56
Seychelles 76
Slovakia 56
Slovevnia 58
Spain 58
Timor-Leste 98
Venezuela 96

Major Religions of the World (July 2023)2
Christians 2,611,683,000 32.3%
  Roman Catholics 1,272,535,000 15.7%
  Protestants 616,220,000 7.6%
  Independents* 415,559,000 5.1%
  Orthodox 298,687,000 3.7%
Muslims** 2,036,194,000 25.1%
Hindus 1,088,187,000 13.4%
Buddhists 558,708,000 6.9%
Chinese folk-religionists 486,005,000 6.0%
Sikhs 29,054,000 0.4%
Jews 15,058,000 0.2%

*This term denotes members of Christian churches and networks that regard themselves as post-denominationalist and neo-apostolic and thus independent of historic, mainstream, organized, institutionalized, confessional, denominationalist Christianity.
**Sunnis—1,815,571,000; Shiites—202,801,000.

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, English, Arabic, Hindi, Portuguese, Bengali, 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, 26th ed.; The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2024.

References

1. The World Factbook (CIA).
2. The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2024, ©2023.
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.



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