UN country group · UN WPP 2024

Central and Southern Asia population

Central and Southern Asia population now

2,196,663,494

A projection read at this second, not a count: the UN's totals for 1 January 2026 and 2027, joined by a straight line.

Mid-2023, UN estimate: 2,123,893,323

Year: 2026; projection · medium
Population, mid-2026: 2.19119 billion
Median age: 28.8
Aged 65+: 7.1%

Move through time, 1950–2100

2023 | 2024 peak 2074

male female projection · one cell = 500,000 people

How to read this: one row for each age, newborns at the bottom; men on the left, women on the right.

Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries

AGG · 1950–2100 · in brief

Central and Southern Asia in numbers

The UN counts 2,123,893,323 people in Central and Southern Asia in mid-2023, and 26.2% of the world's people. That is 4.4 times its 1950 population of 482 million.

The UN's medium projection has it peaking in 2074 at 2.76 billion, then falling to 2.64 billion by 2100.

Births stay ahead of deaths until 2077; in the medium projection, deaths are ahead every year after it.

The median age was 20.7 in 1950 and 27.8 in 2023; the projection has 45.6 in 2100. 6.5% of people were 65 or older in 2023, against 26.4% projected for 2100. The working-age population (15–64) is projected to peak in 2057 at 1.76 billion.

Population, mid-2023: 2,123,893,323
Share of the world, 2023: 26.2%
Change in a year, mid-2022 to mid-2023: +1.05% · +22,084,268 people
Births, 2023: 39,083,385
Deaths, 2023: 13,494,393
Net migration, 2023: −3,386,165
Children per woman, 2023: 2.25
Median age, 2023: 27.8 years
Life expectancy at birth, 2023: 71.7 years
Population, mid-1950: 481,649,426
Projected, mid-2050: 2,619,449,617
Projected, mid-2100: 2,639,257,308

AGG · 1950–2100 · total population

Population, 1950–2100

peak 2074estimates | projections0500 m1 bn1.5 bn2 bn2.5 bn3 bn1950197520002025205020752100

estimate projection (medium). One column is one year's population, read on 1 January; the paper rules divide it into equal cells.

Show the numbers: Central and Southern Asia, 1950–2100

Central and Southern Asia: population on 1 January, births, deaths, fertility and life expectancy, 1950–2100
Year	Kind	Population, 1 Jan	Births	Deaths	Children per woman	Life expectancy
1950	estimate	476,561,076	21,403,470	11,405,868	5.89	40.3
1951	estimate	486,737,775	21,941,706	11,506,043	5.92	40.8
1952	estimate	497,522,291	22,529,443	11,568,878	5.96	41.4
1953	estimate	508,834,646	23,120,176	11,685,887	5.99	41.8
1954	estimate	520,298,311	23,701,149	11,626,897	6.03	42.6
1955	estimate	532,611,361	24,213,190	11,668,168	6.04	43.2
1956	estimate	545,333,738	24,720,666	11,739,849	6.05	43.6
1957	estimate	558,577,451	25,236,556	11,829,121	6.07	44.1
1958	estimate	571,634,333	25,685,668	11,885,615	6.08	44.5
1959	estimate	585,699,321	26,169,514	11,912,813	6.08	45.0
1960	estimate	600,211,117	26,761,743	12,011,605	6.11	45.4
1961	estimate	615,277,469	27,299,434	12,123,654	6.13	45.8
1962	estimate	630,929,827	27,846,366	12,222,054	6.14	46.2
1963	estimate	646,701,800	28,351,068	12,323,125	6.15	46.6
1964	estimate	662,993,087	28,864,466	12,398,630	6.14	47.0
1965	estimate	679,586,742	29,268,010	13,075,292	6.11	46.2
1966	estimate	695,851,606	29,652,929	13,071,185	6.06	46.7
1967	estimate	712,108,770	30,105,387	13,143,489	6.01	47.1
1968	estimate	729,257,620	30,551,603	12,713,075	5.96	48.5
1969	estimate	746,318,123	30,966,756	12,784,459	5.90	48.9
1970	estimate	763,709,228	31,494,215	13,186,076	5.85	48.6
1971	estimate	782,329,546	32,151,632	14,716,971	5.79	46.2
1972	estimate	799,081,898	32,713,860	13,074,594	5.72	49.9
1973	estimate	818,452,572	33,333,393	13,160,151	5.65	50.4
1974	estimate	838,222,832	33,941,925	13,209,536	5.59	50.8
1975	estimate	859,102,343	34,343,127	13,202,534	5.49	51.4
1976	estimate	880,370,329	35,113,582	13,244,347	5.43	51.9
1977	estimate	902,185,617	35,536,806	13,271,878	5.34	52.4
1978	estimate	924,793,719	36,140,943	13,311,490	5.25	52.9
1979	estimate	947,099,138	36,979,522	13,306,803	5.18	53.5
1980	estimate	970,924,184	37,950,252	13,368,967	5.15	54.0
1981	estimate	995,080,092	38,671,693	13,420,772	5.08	54.5
1982	estimate	1,020,012,467	39,319,936	13,432,702	5.00	55.0
1983	estimate	1,045,493,506	39,949,968	13,425,890	4.94	55.6
1984	estimate	1,071,657,860	40,672,223	13,471,408	4.88	56.0
1985	estimate	1,098,223,289	41,116,247	13,487,419	4.79	56.5
1986	estimate	1,125,248,326	41,740,391	13,403,657	4.74	57.1
1987	estimate	1,152,883,549	41,856,752	13,392,665	4.64	57.5
1988	estimate	1,180,580,877	42,078,168	13,341,125	4.53	58.0
1989	estimate	1,208,597,220	42,290,104	13,299,365	4.43	58.5
1990	estimate	1,236,947,886	42,368,482	13,321,602	4.33	58.8
1991	estimate	1,265,284,573	42,461,998	13,418,337	4.23	59.0
1992	estimate	1,293,745,605	42,427,744	13,256,379	4.12	59.6
1993	estimate	1,322,449,371	42,352,959	13,235,441	4.02	59.9
1994	estimate	1,350,090,348	42,406,903	13,214,892	3.92	60.3
1995	estimate	1,377,756,194	42,388,649	13,200,785	3.83	60.6
1996	estimate	1,405,985,327	42,331,552	13,171,911	3.74	61.0
1997	estimate	1,434,177,745	42,414,264	13,143,537	3.66	61.4
1998	estimate	1,462,574,643	42,537,394	13,105,162	3.58	61.9
1999	estimate	1,491,196,452	42,752,103	13,043,537	3.51	62.3
2000	estimate	1,520,330,287	43,172,319	12,998,325	3.46	62.8
2001	estimate	1,549,258,331	43,404,591	12,973,989	3.39	63.3
2002	estimate	1,578,695,372	43,209,355	12,902,935	3.30	63.8
2003	estimate	1,606,646,277	42,930,488	12,879,148	3.21	64.2
2004	estimate	1,635,555,584	42,678,017	12,866,516	3.13	64.6
2005	estimate	1,664,213,909	42,244,419	12,855,374	3.05	65.0
2006	estimate	1,692,028,129	42,050,393	12,761,676	2.98	65.5
2007	estimate	1,719,925,399	41,953,723	12,761,710	2.91	65.9
2008	estimate	1,746,155,199	42,042,342	12,747,934	2.86	66.3
2009	estimate	1,772,825,507	42,215,678	12,770,610	2.82	66.7
2010	estimate	1,800,313,819	41,987,659	12,731,986	2.75	67.1
2011	estimate	1,827,369,307	41,818,929	12,715,920	2.69	67.6
2012	estimate	1,854,314,552	41,682,476	12,720,391	2.64	68.0
2013	estimate	1,880,161,388	41,374,299	12,738,438	2.59	68.4
2014	estimate	1,905,400,825	40,517,960	12,749,413	2.52	68.8
2015	estimate	1,929,811,875	40,665,925	12,824,132	2.51	69.1
2016	estimate	1,953,322,254	40,688,658	12,884,873	2.50	69.5
2017	estimate	1,977,573,039	39,934,439	12,969,505	2.44	69.9
2018	estimate	2,001,284,699	40,123,738	13,087,495	2.42	70.2
2019	estimate	2,025,012,436	39,622,087	13,202,495	2.37	70.5
2020	estimate	2,048,450,375	39,081,337	14,620,248	2.32	69.7
2021	estimate	2,071,434,114	39,091,170	17,727,341	2.29	67.5
2022	estimate	2,090,826,199	39,141,419	13,346,757	2.27	71.4
2023	estimate	2,112,791,911	39,083,385	13,494,393	2.25	71.7
2024	estimate	2,134,994,735	38,992,673	13,609,539	2.24	72.0
2025	projection	2,157,569,977	38,815,395	13,833,913	2.21	72.2
2026	projection	2,180,041,052	38,671,644	14,072,237	2.19	72.5
2027	projection	2,202,346,903	38,526,509	14,307,956	2.18	72.7
2028	projection	2,224,552,196	38,391,036	14,569,772	2.16	72.9
2029	projection	2,246,599,709	38,287,086	14,819,455	2.15	73.1
2030	projection	2,268,404,229	38,204,863	15,081,790	2.13	73.3
2031	projection	2,289,961,236	38,082,523	15,357,532	2.12	73.5
2032	projection	2,311,156,671	37,937,599	15,630,784	2.11	73.7
2033	projection	2,331,944,831	37,814,978	15,913,542	2.10	73.9
2034	projection	2,352,361,976	37,691,981	16,195,649	2.09	74.1
2035	projection	2,372,265,712	37,556,896	16,492,719	2.08	74.3
2036	projection	2,391,738,601	37,390,191	16,790,621	2.07	74.5
2037	projection	2,410,817,895	37,208,424	17,108,666	2.06	74.7
2038	projection	2,429,349,131	36,995,169	17,412,421	2.05	74.9
2039	projection	2,447,383,546	36,796,519	17,716,145	2.04	75.1
2040	projection	2,464,973,864	36,649,995	18,018,892	2.03	75.3
2041	projection	2,482,100,786	36,445,533	18,342,627	2.03	75.4
2042	projection	2,498,728,044	36,238,915	18,661,548	2.02	75.6
2043	projection	2,514,762,972	36,043,314	18,979,607	2.01	75.8
2044	projection	2,530,341,624	35,860,669	19,294,192	2.01	76.0
2045	projection	2,545,423,957	35,665,325	19,619,057	2.00	76.2
2046	projection	2,560,044,930	35,484,336	19,934,626	2.00	76.3
2047	projection	2,574,224,878	35,269,112	20,264,369	1.99	76.5
2048	projection	2,587,773,728	35,086,567	20,592,596	1.98	76.7
2049	projection	2,600,809,748	34,904,062	20,920,257	1.98	76.9
2050	projection	2,613,433,487	34,735,784	21,253,902	1.97	77.0
2051	projection	2,625,465,747	34,573,355	21,584,182	1.96	77.2
2052	projection	2,636,939,647	34,391,939	21,920,209	1.96	77.4
2053	projection	2,648,028,934	34,255,328	22,263,653	1.95	77.5
2054	projection	2,658,654,690	34,083,186	22,617,052	1.95	77.7
2055	projection	2,668,731,168	33,949,562	22,956,717	1.94	77.9
2056	projection	2,678,391,370	33,828,158	23,301,146	1.94	78.0
2057	projection	2,687,601,022	33,678,075	23,642,097	1.93	78.2
2058	projection	2,696,320,473	33,507,402	23,990,978	1.93	78.3
2059	projection	2,704,480,961	33,346,607	24,345,924	1.92	78.5
2060	projection	2,712,012,115	33,182,492	24,707,250	1.92	78.7
2061	projection	2,719,094,067	32,995,305	25,059,475	1.91	78.8
2062	projection	2,725,558,091	32,851,575	25,420,330	1.91	79.0
2063	projection	2,731,668,497	32,682,897	25,773,867	1.90	79.1
2064	projection	2,737,215,088	32,527,063	26,131,186	1.90	79.3
2065	projection	2,742,299,362	32,352,791	26,500,966	1.89	79.4
2066	projection	2,746,836,263	32,179,726	26,844,734	1.89	79.6
2067	projection	2,750,811,442	31,983,758	27,208,996	1.88	79.7
2068	projection	2,754,216,237	31,788,757	27,560,942	1.88	79.9
2069	projection	2,757,185,941	31,575,675	27,898,140	1.87	80.0
2070	projection	2,759,572,573	31,398,833	28,242,682	1.87	80.2
2071	projection	2,761,481,509	31,223,889	28,569,440	1.87	80.3
2072	projection	2,762,752,190	31,018,337	28,902,091	1.86	80.4
2073	projection	2,763,547,976	30,821,268	29,189,331	1.86	80.6
2074	projection	2,763,941,765	30,628,211	29,488,622	1.86	80.7
2075	projection	2,763,785,752	30,438,237	29,781,020	1.85	80.8
2076	projection	2,763,067,730	30,256,143	30,045,149	1.85	81.0
2077	projection	2,761,949,296	30,080,633	30,300,105	1.85	81.1
2078	projection	2,760,393,363	29,877,763	30,546,252	1.84	81.3
2079	projection	2,758,295,666	29,685,570	30,765,436	1.84	81.4
2080	projection	2,755,912,203	29,522,736	30,979,590	1.84	81.5
2081	projection	2,753,115,761	29,324,327	31,162,078	1.83	81.7
2082	projection	2,749,800,243	29,157,271	31,343,704	1.83	81.8
2083	projection	2,746,188,015	28,971,379	31,513,357	1.83	81.9
2084	projection	2,742,201,919	28,804,651	31,672,149	1.82	82.1
2085	projection	2,738,030,791	28,628,033	31,831,990	1.82	82.2
2086	projection	2,733,432,136	28,467,789	31,970,928	1.82	82.3
2087	projection	2,728,431,041	28,294,200	32,099,731	1.82	82.4
2088	projection	2,723,302,387	28,131,172	32,220,940	1.81	82.5
2089	projection	2,717,859,896	27,968,581	32,342,355	1.81	82.7
2090	projection	2,712,107,188	27,798,847	32,426,981	1.81	82.8
2091	projection	2,706,204,935	27,629,305	32,508,426	1.81	82.9
2092	projection	2,700,016,839	27,463,185	32,567,057	1.80	83.0
2093	projection	2,693,645,781	27,272,631	32,619,610	1.80	83.2
2094	projection	2,687,031,744	27,088,079	32,665,820	1.80	83.3
2095	projection	2,680,222,659	26,900,850	32,704,986	1.79	83.4
2096	projection	2,673,169,211	26,735,654	32,720,124	1.79	83.5
2097	projection	2,665,936,908	26,570,399	32,736,902	1.79	83.6
2098	projection	2,658,522,589	26,383,205	32,732,683	1.79	83.8
2099	projection	2,650,914,948	26,217,214	32,725,063	1.79	83.9
2100	projection	2,643,211,399	26,027,587	32,715,407	1.78	84.0

AGG · membership

What Central and Southern Asia is

Central and Southern Asia is one of the UN's analytical groupings. This dataset carries the group's totals, not its membership, so its countries are not listed here.

Show the numbers: Central and Southern Asia, mid-2026, by single year of age

Central and Southern Asia: population by single year of age, mid-2026
Age	Male	Female
0	19,470,200	18,382,300
1	19,420,500	18,318,500
2	19,423,100	18,292,100
3	19,412,900	18,253,900
4	19,379,500	18,194,900
5	19,333,600	18,125,600
6	19,430,900	18,187,100
7	19,659,300	18,367,300
8	19,711,500	18,384,000
9	19,814,600	18,448,500
10	19,957,300	18,549,500
11	19,888,800	18,458,500
12	20,028,200	18,564,900
13	20,288,000	18,771,500
14	20,385,300	18,816,700
15	20,432,900	18,827,300
16	20,442,900	18,835,100
17	20,311,900	18,739,900
18	20,068,300	18,554,900
19	19,879,600	18,434,600
20	19,764,500	18,378,800
21	19,705,300	18,374,500
22	19,651,600	18,392,100
23	19,573,200	18,392,600
24	19,491,600	18,360,900
25	19,312,600	18,210,400
26	19,014,100	17,956,800
27	18,739,200	17,725,000
28	18,541,900	17,555,400
29	18,390,600	17,422,300
30	18,253,400	17,292,100
31	18,081,700	17,141,600
32	17,862,900	16,962,300
33	17,646,900	16,783,400
34	17,454,000	16,611,900
35	17,224,500	16,406,100
36	16,997,100	16,214,100
37	16,797,800	16,034,100
38	16,574,300	15,838,100
39	16,396,800	15,702,500
40	16,139,900	15,479,400
41	15,787,400	15,143,900
42	15,397,100	14,755,500
43	14,928,300	14,283,700
44	14,496,700	13,836,100
45	14,048,400	13,387,700
46	13,509,200	12,891,500
47	12,974,900	12,414,300
48	12,533,000	12,029,200
49	12,181,200	11,743,600
50	11,803,300	11,441,000
51	11,424,000	11,132,900
52	11,082,300	10,852,100
53	10,705,600	10,525,800
54	10,357,500	10,216,700
55	10,000,200	9,896,940
56	9,624,900	9,560,700
57	9,290,870	9,265,880
58	8,945,450	8,955,220
59	8,597,770	8,635,440
60	8,271,070	8,333,420
61	7,968,930	8,052,010
62	7,679,030	7,781,200
63	7,370,290	7,495,840
64	7,053,050	7,206,810
65	6,720,600	6,902,950
66	6,368,160	6,579,450
67	6,018,910	6,260,750
68	5,678,560	5,950,170
69	5,331,080	5,630,390
70	4,978,440	5,310,640
71	4,621,550	4,991,200
72	4,257,510	4,657,660
73	3,892,290	4,313,010
74	3,531,470	3,965,570
75	3,184,080	3,619,550
76	2,848,750	3,270,620
77	2,446,920	2,852,330
78	2,097,980	2,507,190
79	1,862,880	2,269,810
80	1,637,540	2,017,180
81	1,422,920	1,775,360
82	1,227,120	1,557,160
83	1,051,770	1,363,960
84	895,799	1,191,330
85	757,152	1,034,250
86	634,834	891,592
87	527,826	763,365
88	431,840	641,827
89	344,636	524,092
90	268,639	416,554
91	206,110	325,050
92	155,744	249,416
93	115,502	187,178
94	84,082	137,322
95	59,936	98,428
96	41,737	68,888
97	28,348	46,914
98	18,720	30,971
99	11,977	19,820
100+	17,470	30,247

AGG · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

Central and Southern Asia, every age in every year

Each column is a year and each row an age; the denser the ink in a cell, the more people. Everyone born in the same year climbs one 45° diagonal, so famines, baby booms and migration show up as streaks. Select a cell to follow its generation.

AGG · ages 15–64

Who does the work in Central and Southern Asia

On the UN's projection, Central and Southern Asia will have the most working-age people it ever has in 2057: 1,755,040,000 people aged 15–64. In 2023 it had 1,406,880,000.

100 aged 15–64

41 children

10 aged 65+

aged 15–64 children under 15 aged 65 and over

How to read this: the orange squares are 100 people aged 15–64 in 2023, and the rows below are how many children (teal) and how many people aged 65 or older (violet) lived alongside them.

Fewer than 50 dependants live alongside every 100 people aged 15–64 in 24 years: 2026–2049.

fewer than 50 dependants per 100 the same, projected 50 or more

How to read this: 1950 on the left, 2100 on the right; coloured in the years with fewer than 50 dependants per 100 working-age people, grey in the rest, hatched where that is a projection.

How every country compares

AGG · arrivals minus departures

Who arrives in Central and Southern Asia, and who leaves

In 2020–2025 Central and Southern Asia loses 2,797,731 people a year: everyone who arrives, minus everyone who leaves. The age at which that happens most is 20–24, at 597,551 a year more leaving than arriving.

one square = 100,000 people a year

020406080+

more arrive than leave more leave than arrive

How to read this: left to right is age, from babies to 100. Blue squares above the line are ages at which more people arrive than leave; orange squares below it, ages at which more leave than arrive. These are the UN's projection for 2020–2025. There is no record of migration by age before 2020.

In the years that were counted, 1950–2023, the most it gained in one year was 476,573 (1961) and the most it lost was 4,331,459 (2015).

This is a group of countries, so its figure counts only moves across its own outer edge: someone moving from one country inside it to another does not appear.

How migration works everywhere

AGG · births by the mother's age · 1950–2100

Who has the babies in Central and Southern Asia

Of every 100 babies born in Central and Southern Asia in 2023, 6 had a mother under 20, 84 a mother aged 20 to 34 and 10 a mother aged 35 or older. In 1950 it was 18 under 20 and 14 aged 35 or older.

1950
18 · 68 · 14

2023
6 · 84 · 10

2050 · projected
3 · 83 · 14

The mother's age: under 20 20 to 34 35 or older projected

How to read this: each block is 100 babies born in that year, one square each, coloured by how old the mother was. The numbers under a block are the three groups, youngest mothers first.

Babies born, 2023: 39,083,385
Average age when women have a baby: 27.7 years; 28.2 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19: 26; 148 in 1950

Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100

Babies born in Central and Southern Asia by the mother's age
Mother's age	1950	1975	2000	2023	2050 projected	2100 projected
10–14	289,651	529,696	494,807	35,419	4,260	1,034
15–19	3,509,209	6,693,449	8,337,700	2,438,046	1,116,970	453,710
20–24	5,940,025	10,455,353	15,044,570	12,664,173	8,025,332	3,750,638
25–29	5,020,220	7,594,284	10,510,366	12,754,887	11,985,239	8,297,798
30–34	3,536,108	4,960,027	5,456,629	7,304,705	8,935,451	8,519,663
35–39	2,123,358	2,852,652	2,416,509	2,896,280	3,459,569	3,869,853
40–44	851,328	1,044,166	769,022	848,401	1,035,026	1,007,533
45–49	128,319	204,027	135,490	127,972	157,911	121,725
50–54	5,252	9,473	7,226	13,502	16,026	5,633
All babies	21,403,470	34,343,127	43,172,319	39,083,385	34,735,784	26,027,587

The UN's births for each year, split by the mother's age in the UN's own proportions.

Apparatus

Sources and method

Every figure on this page comes from the UN's World Population Prospects 2024: the annual tables for regions and groups (estimates to 2023, then the medium projection), and the population by single year of age and sex for the pyramid.

Sources: UN WPP 2024 · World Bank · UN WUP 2025 · Maddison Project 2020 · flag-icons. Every source, its licence and how to cite it →

Checked before it was drawn

Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries The pyramid for every year was checked against the published total. What that stamp counts, and what every page here has to pass before it can be built: how this site checks its figures.