Which countries have the fastest-growing populations?

Full country ranking

Value: % annual population growth. The table is shown in its published rank order. Rank always refers to the published highest-first order; exact source ties share a rank.

What the data means

32 covered countries have declining populations in this year. Annual population growth combines births, deaths and migration; a high percentage in a small country can represent fewer additional residents than a lower rate in a large country. It does not measure city-level growth.

Methodology, source and licence

One common observation year (2024) across all entries. Starting at 2024, choose the newest common year with at least 10 existing country guides and at least 70% of world population represented. Regional aggregates and places without an existing country guide or same-year population are excluded; missing observations are never estimated. Rates, percentages and values already expressed per person are not divided by population again. Exact source ties share a rank; country names break ties in display order. The 2026 label is the publication edition, not the observation year.

Source definition: Annual population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

Original providers: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), note: Derived from total population, publisher: UN Population Division; Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices, National Statistical Offices (NSOs), note: Derived from total population; Demographic Statistics, Eurostat (ESTAT), note: Derived from total population; Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), United Nations (UN), note: Derived from total population, publisher: UN Statistical Division

Source: World Bank — World Development Indicators — SP.POP.GROW. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-18. GooferPlaces selected eligible countries, sorted observations, rounded display values and, where stated, calculated population-normalised values. The source organisations do not endorse these rankings.

Download the observations and methodology (JSON). The dated source snapshot is retained as data/rankings/world-bank-wdi/2026-10-18.json. The country universe comprises the 197 existing country guides; territories without a guide and regional aggregates are excluded. Population coverage uses the World Bank world aggregate for the observation year, including places not listed in the table.

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