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Four-country population snapshot

India leads the latest population count among four countries

The first and latest observations show different leaders in total population, while the latest growth rates place Nigeria highest and China below zero.

By SPHRE Data Desk ·

Data: Population for IN

Explore Population in the interactive data view.

Among the four countries shown, India has the largest latest population total. From inside India, that figure describes the country’s own scale before it serves as a comparison abroad. The indicator establishes size, not how people are distributed within the country. Its use here is comparative and bounded: India is ahead of China, the United States and Nigeria at the latest endpoint.

Among these four countries, India has the largest latest population, while Nigeria has the highest latest population growth rate.

The endpoints change the ordering

Read the long view through the first and latest observations, without inferring what happened between them. At the first population endpoint, China had the largest total among the four; at the latest, India does. Every country’s latest total is above its own first value. Nigeria has the largest proportional increase between those observations, although its latest total remains well below India’s and China’s. In the chart, compare the left and right endpoints for the change in ordering and relative scale.

Data: Population

Among the four, China has the largest first observation and India the largest latest one; Nigeria posts the largest proportional endpoint increase.

Explore Population in the interactive data view.

Growth gives a different comparison

Growth supplies a different endpoint comparison. India’s and the United States’ latest rates are positive but lower than their first available rates. China’s first and latest rates are both negative, with the latest closer to zero. Nigeria’s first and latest rates are the same in the data shown. At the latest observation, Nigeria has the highest growth rate; India and the United States are positive at lower rates, while China is negative. In the chart, compare the countries’ positions at the first and latest observations.

Data: Population growth

At the latest endpoint, Nigeria is highest, India and the United States are positive and lower, and China is negative.

Explore Population growth in the interactive data view.

Scale and annual change are separate measures

For India, the two measures place national scale and annual change side by side. India holds the highest latest population total in this comparison, while its latest growth rate is below Nigeria’s and above the United States’. China’s latest population remains close to India’s in absolute size, though its latest growth rate is negative. Nigeria combines the smallest latest total of the four with the highest latest growth rate. The United States has a larger latest total than Nigeria and a lower positive growth rate.

What to know

  • India has the largest latest population total among the four countries shown.
  • China leads at the first population endpoint, while India leads at the latest.
  • Nigeria has the highest latest growth rate, while China’s latest rate is negative.