Sub-region · UN WPP 2024

Eastern Asia population

Eastern Asia population now

1,647,292,596

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: 1,660,028,546

Year: 2026; projection · medium
Population, mid-2026: 1.64825 billion
Median age: 42.5
Aged 65+: 16.5%

Move through time, 1950–2100

2023 | 2024

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

Eastern Asia in numbers

1,660,028,546 people lived in Eastern Asia in mid-2023: 20.5% of the world's people. That is 2.5 times its 1950 population of 672 million. It covers 8 countries and areas; the largest are China (85.7%), Japan (7.5%), South Korea (3.1%), North Korea (1.6%) and Taiwan (1.4%).

Its population peaked in 2020 at 1.67 billion and has been falling since. The UN's medium projection has 770 million in 2100.

Deaths have outnumbered births every year since 2021, and do so in every projected year to 2100.

The median age was 22.8 in 1950 and 41.0 in 2023; the projection has 60.5 in 2100. 15.6% of people were 65 or older in 2023, against 44.4% projected for 2100. The working-age population (15–64) peaked in 2015 at 1.16 billion; in 2023 it was 1.13 billion.

Population, mid-2023: 1,660,028,546
Share of the world, 2023: 20.5%
Change in a year, mid-2022 to mid-2023: −0.19% · −3,236,355 people
Births, 2023: 10,471,429
Deaths, 2023: 14,096,228
Net migration, 2023: −334,315
Children per woman, 2023: 1.01
Median age, 2023: 41.0 years
Life expectancy at birth, 2023: 78.9 years
Population, mid-1950: 671,914,904
Projected, mid-2050: 1,467,038,094
Projected, mid-2100: 769,522,840

AGG · 1950–2100 · total population

Population, 1950–2100

estimates | projections0500 m1 bn1.5 bn2 bn1950197520002025205020752100

estimate projection (medium). Every column stands for a single year, counted on 1 January, and the paper rules slice it into cells of equal size.

Show the numbers: Eastern Asia, 1950–2100

Eastern 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	666,409,651	26,452,688	15,376,747	5.50	43.2
1951	estimate	677,420,158	25,933,564	14,755,786	5.32	44.7
1952	estimate	688,554,730	29,195,384	14,165,631	5.89	46.6
1953	estimate	703,588,002	27,790,389	13,897,214	5.52	47.4
1954	estimate	717,551,235	29,076,135	13,544,559	5.68	48.5
1955	estimate	733,145,123	29,390,579	13,494,319	5.65	49.0
1956	estimate	749,109,618	27,998,752	13,277,992	5.30	49.6
1957	estimate	763,882,443	30,737,021	13,305,445	5.74	50.1
1958	estimate	781,377,143	28,088,486	13,033,075	5.17	50.7
1959	estimate	796,420,307	24,061,357	17,225,583	4.37	43.0
1960	estimate	803,233,639	23,075,115	20,841,215	4.15	36.9
1961	estimate	805,430,689	20,599,502	16,018,117	3.67	43.4
1962	estimate	809,664,328	30,559,744	11,676,710	5.39	52.9
1963	estimate	828,130,121	37,229,643	12,205,550	6.50	53.5
1964	estimate	852,720,466	33,851,135	12,129,739	5.84	54.2
1965	estimate	874,263,097	34,019,563	11,994,799	5.79	54.8
1966	estimate	896,161,881	32,781,757	11,791,119	5.49	55.4
1967	estimate	917,207,692	31,545,714	11,407,946	5.18	56.3
1968	estimate	937,349,605	35,553,133	11,400,950	5.71	57.0
1969	estimate	961,766,708	34,819,070	11,249,045	5.44	57.7
1970	estimate	985,578,459	35,442,232	11,061,037	5.37	58.5
1971	estimate	1,010,110,810	33,723,952	10,700,749	4.94	59.4
1972	estimate	1,032,965,408	32,695,670	10,382,070	4.62	60.3
1973	estimate	1,055,106,672	31,696,020	10,063,826	4.30	61.1
1974	estimate	1,076,532,663	29,526,469	9,769,085	3.84	61.9
1975	estimate	1,096,184,772	26,845,266	9,452,900	3.34	62.5
1976	estimate	1,113,416,566	25,635,433	9,401,895	3.05	62.9
1977	estimate	1,129,532,267	23,822,800	8,938,486	2.72	64.0
1978	estimate	1,144,338,649	23,681,665	8,805,902	2.61	64.6
1979	estimate	1,159,141,010	24,595,449	8,733,053	2.64	65.2
1980	estimate	1,174,857,492	25,074,145	8,772,584	2.63	65.6
1981	estimate	1,190,935,765	25,882,494	8,726,189	2.67	66.2
1982	estimate	1,207,813,742	27,681,642	8,785,201	2.81	66.6
1983	estimate	1,226,440,187	24,904,254	8,734,454	2.47	67.0
1984	estimate	1,242,412,219	26,015,526	8,741,450	2.50	67.5
1985	estimate	1,259,477,825	27,126,224	8,823,400	2.52	67.8
1986	estimate	1,277,696,044	28,937,305	8,930,433	2.59	68.2
1987	estimate	1,297,825,452	30,406,473	9,024,157	2.63	68.5
1988	estimate	1,319,230,981	29,282,188	9,084,458	2.44	68.8
1989	estimate	1,339,347,076	30,008,835	9,152,516	2.42	69.2
1990	estimate	1,360,033,809	30,865,231	9,336,462	2.42	69.4
1991	estimate	1,381,660,694	25,481,965	9,152,071	1.92	69.8
1992	estimate	1,397,381,438	23,907,323	9,074,187	1.77	70.3
1993	estimate	1,412,049,694	23,003,793	9,050,396	1.69	70.7
1994	estimate	1,425,633,590	22,369,031	9,088,622	1.63	71.0
1995	estimate	1,438,186,489	21,804,065	9,153,884	1.59	71.3
1996	estimate	1,450,394,167	21,092,595	9,104,475	1.55	71.8
1997	estimate	1,462,079,419	20,412,495	9,144,666	1.52	72.2
1998	estimate	1,473,048,814	19,853,449	9,222,488	1.51	72.5
1999	estimate	1,483,640,992	19,482,788	9,354,150	1.51	72.8
2000	estimate	1,493,680,605	20,153,387	9,450,757	1.59	73.2
2001	estimate	1,504,262,514	19,081,310	9,512,046	1.53	73.6
2002	estimate	1,513,712,201	18,772,790	9,622,573	1.53	74.0
2003	estimate	1,522,165,656	18,536,951	9,688,502	1.53	74.5
2004	estimate	1,530,448,358	18,716,040	9,825,909	1.56	74.8
2005	estimate	1,538,605,032	18,771,541	9,992,878	1.58	75.1
2006	estimate	1,547,356,633	19,069,745	10,125,302	1.60	75.4
2007	estimate	1,555,686,435	19,428,444	10,233,647	1.63	75.8
2008	estimate	1,563,982,116	19,929,184	10,543,976	1.67	75.8
2009	estimate	1,572,768,680	20,199,929	10,575,428	1.68	76.3
2010	estimate	1,582,399,001	20,075,574	10,713,103	1.66	76.7
2011	estimate	1,591,788,166	20,006,314	10,961,001	1.65	76.8
2012	estimate	1,600,830,780	21,456,047	11,093,322	1.77	77.2
2013	estimate	1,611,549,987	20,465,718	11,252,891	1.69	77.4
2014	estimate	1,620,978,283	20,911,721	11,414,526	1.74	77.7
2015	estimate	1,630,510,821	19,658,894	11,581,409	1.65	78.0
2016	estimate	1,638,416,530	20,410,216	11,788,215	1.73	78.2
2017	estimate	1,647,339,518	20,251,189	12,195,521	1.74	78.2
2018	estimate	1,655,764,790	17,272,063	12,161,297	1.51	78.6
2019	estimate	1,661,138,023	16,447,732	12,362,315	1.46	78.8
2020	estimate	1,665,038,572	13,600,329	12,658,804	1.23	78.9
2021	estimate	1,666,027,380	12,158,106	13,090,056	1.12	79.0
2022	estimate	1,664,521,712	11,094,233	13,555,196	1.05	79.0
2023	estimate	1,662,008,090	10,471,429	14,096,228	1.01	78.9
2024	estimate	1,658,049,001	10,390,852	14,122,494	1.03	79.0
2025	projection	1,654,181,809	10,268,500	14,192,977	1.03	79.3
2026	projection	1,650,189,421	10,174,434	13,991,282	1.04	79.8
2027	projection	1,646,302,138	10,071,564	14,239,836	1.05	80.0
2028	projection	1,642,097,326	9,993,845	14,504,665	1.06	80.2
2029	projection	1,637,501,465	9,914,727	14,776,648	1.07	80.4
2030	projection	1,632,591,456	9,881,241	15,050,906	1.08	80.6
2031	projection	1,627,380,529	9,848,326	15,332,279	1.09	80.8
2032	projection	1,621,827,620	9,845,188	15,628,700	1.10	80.9
2033	projection	1,615,978,669	9,840,725	15,938,459	1.10	81.1
2034	projection	1,609,809,329	9,864,383	16,244,132	1.11	81.3
2035	projection	1,603,376,963	9,912,127	16,555,975	1.12	81.4
2036	projection	1,596,647,069	9,956,019	16,865,257	1.12	81.6
2037	projection	1,589,663,707	10,025,083	17,172,781	1.13	81.8
2038	projection	1,582,457,510	10,090,087	17,473,128	1.14	81.9
2039	projection	1,575,021,540	10,133,697	17,780,348	1.15	82.1
2040	projection	1,567,329,601	10,170,362	18,076,900	1.15	82.3
2041	projection	1,559,354,851	10,181,371	18,364,097	1.15	82.4
2042	projection	1,551,082,865	10,185,738	18,639,312	1.16	82.6
2043	projection	1,542,554,368	10,186,127	18,908,180	1.17	82.7
2044	projection	1,533,796,480	10,125,470	19,174,189	1.17	82.9
2045	projection	1,524,735,287	10,026,027	19,431,206	1.18	83.0
2046	projection	1,515,273,510	9,864,090	19,675,723	1.18	83.2
2047	projection	1,505,384,862	9,649,252	19,901,400	1.19	83.4
2048	projection	1,495,057,172	9,382,877	20,126,020	1.19	83.5
2049	projection	1,484,264,683	9,092,186	20,339,072	1.20	83.7
2050	projection	1,472,940,284	8,772,219	20,542,972	1.20	83.8
2051	projection	1,461,135,903	8,422,327	20,741,662	1.21	84.0
2052	projection	1,448,754,616	8,074,533	20,933,190	1.21	84.1
2053	projection	1,435,803,741	7,740,985	21,109,070	1.22	84.2
2054	projection	1,422,394,331	7,410,587	21,272,081	1.22	84.4
2055	projection	1,408,498,894	7,132,443	21,425,585	1.23	84.5
2056	projection	1,394,161,661	6,873,721	21,548,964	1.23	84.7
2057	projection	1,379,424,700	6,657,800	21,657,740	1.24	84.8
2058	projection	1,364,383,530	6,474,435	21,744,070	1.24	85.0
2059	projection	1,349,049,728	6,336,246	21,809,089	1.25	85.1
2060	projection	1,333,514,578	6,227,933	21,833,421	1.25	85.2
2061	projection	1,317,844,167	6,150,079	21,817,215	1.25	85.4
2062	projection	1,302,140,154	6,103,918	21,770,244	1.26	85.5
2063	projection	1,286,439,698	6,086,107	21,689,929	1.26	85.7
2064	projection	1,270,819,641	6,080,091	21,614,681	1.27	85.8
2065	projection	1,255,238,380	6,085,014	21,501,934	1.27	85.9
2066	projection	1,239,799,317	6,098,396	21,370,065	1.28	86.0
2067	projection	1,224,501,400	6,119,475	21,236,035	1.28	86.2
2068	projection	1,209,343,569	6,142,123	21,096,417	1.29	86.3
2069	projection	1,194,365,453	6,151,398	20,953,699	1.29	86.4
2070	projection	1,179,534,195	6,159,738	20,812,730	1.29	86.5
2071	projection	1,164,857,708	6,166,215	20,690,565	1.29	86.7
2072	projection	1,150,316,820	6,160,225	20,578,164	1.30	86.8
2073	projection	1,135,860,411	6,148,557	20,489,709	1.30	86.9
2074	projection	1,121,479,180	6,114,002	20,392,060	1.30	87.0
2075	projection	1,107,186,273	6,073,899	20,302,843	1.30	87.2
2076	projection	1,092,931,979	6,015,110	20,232,644	1.31	87.3
2077	projection	1,078,704,417	5,939,336	20,147,308	1.31	87.4
2078	projection	1,064,482,106	5,855,220	20,065,903	1.31	87.5
2079	projection	1,050,274,088	5,746,155	19,968,264	1.31	87.6
2080	projection	1,036,041,855	5,632,305	19,843,562	1.32	87.7
2081	projection	1,021,813,940	5,505,344	19,690,921	1.32	87.8
2082	projection	1,007,623,537	5,380,131	19,496,898	1.32	88.0
2083	projection	993,522,998	5,247,912	19,294,775	1.33	88.1
2084	projection	979,487,874	5,105,460	19,057,605	1.33	88.2
2085	projection	965,509,659	4,974,162	18,786,373	1.33	88.3
2086	projection	951,681,888	4,840,018	18,490,209	1.33	88.5
2087	projection	938,029,831	4,717,316	18,196,776	1.34	88.6
2088	projection	924,539,194	4,598,677	17,903,232	1.34	88.7
2089	projection	911,225,006	4,496,622	17,617,857	1.34	88.8
2090	projection	898,089,400	4,410,807	17,336,906	1.35	88.9
2091	projection	885,160,517	4,331,781	17,069,567	1.35	89.0
2092	projection	872,418,178	4,261,416	16,840,958	1.35	89.2
2093	projection	859,829,334	4,205,778	16,634,881	1.35	89.3
2094	projection	847,388,730	4,159,293	16,447,271	1.36	89.4
2095	projection	835,090,961	4,123,740	16,293,933	1.36	89.5
2096	projection	822,920,792	4,101,294	16,142,817	1.36	89.6
2097	projection	810,863,249	4,089,023	16,023,258	1.37	89.7
2098	projection	798,917,959	4,077,506	15,913,153	1.37	89.8
2099	projection	787,080,113	4,071,152	15,803,598	1.37	90.0
2100	projection	775,339,887	4,059,666	15,689,006	1.37	90.1

AGG · members

Countries and areas in Eastern Asia

Eastern Asia: member countries and areas, population mid-2023, share of the group and projected mid-2100
#	Country or area	Mid-2023	Share	Mid-2100, projected
1	China	1,422,584,932	85.7%	633,368,112
2	Japan	124,370,946	7.5%	76,845,989
3	South Korea	51,748,739	3.1%	21,848,791
4	North Korea	26,418,204	1.6%	19,512,149
5	Taiwan	23,317,145	1.4%	10,016,994
6	Hong Kong	7,442,735	0.45%	2,080,290
7	Mongolia	3,431,932	0.21%	5,519,345
8	Macao	713,911	0.04%	331,168

Show the numbers: Eastern Asia, mid-2026, by single year of age

Eastern Asia: population by single year of age, mid-2026
Age	Male	Female
0	5,300,190	4,870,830
1	5,357,310	4,904,800
2	5,416,650	4,938,290
3	5,600,460	5,098,470
4	6,028,760	5,496,110
5	6,681,780	6,073,100
6	7,847,760	7,023,720
7	8,843,210	7,837,260
8	9,826,420	8,727,090
9	10,662,000	9,442,160
10	10,536,800	9,273,210
11	10,676,700	9,359,530
12	10,889,100	9,511,560
13	11,045,900	9,616,890
14	10,935,400	9,495,530
15	10,562,100	9,149,930
16	10,601,200	9,166,700
17	10,547,300	9,110,450
18	10,322,800	8,910,740
19	10,071,100	8,687,400
20	9,871,880	8,514,150
21	9,752,830	8,416,730
22	9,656,740	8,341,600
23	9,629,420	8,326,950
24	9,733,120	8,432,070
25	10,051,100	8,729,630
26	10,083,900	8,785,660
27	9,948,060	8,698,530
28	10,144,800	8,898,210
29	10,400,700	9,148,260
30	10,692,100	9,435,270
31	10,951,300	9,704,440
32	11,189,700	9,966,850
33	11,500,900	10,308,300
34	12,029,400	10,852,800
35	13,647,600	12,389,300
36	14,674,600	13,399,400
37	14,215,000	13,066,900
38	14,228,900	13,170,100
39	14,064,600	13,103,300
40	13,205,600	12,384,900
41	12,441,500	11,743,100
42	11,848,600	11,246,600
43	12,165,500	11,602,100
44	12,320,800	11,789,800
45	11,652,200	11,189,400
46	11,287,800	10,879,700
47	10,886,200	10,524,900
48	10,617,200	10,296,600
49	10,950,200	10,651,900
50	11,499,600	11,224,700
51	12,223,200	11,975,400
52	13,127,600	12,913,300
53	13,623,900	13,457,100
54	13,868,900	13,756,000
55	14,239,500	14,197,300
56	14,242,700	14,276,600
57	14,028,200	14,136,200
58	13,123,200	13,294,800
59	12,321,200	12,532,900
60	12,564,900	12,845,600
61	12,541,100	12,905,900
62	12,862,400	13,328,000
63	12,015,800	12,546,200
64	8,796,600	9,261,420
65	6,998,870	7,446,910
66	7,067,660	7,594,590
67	7,598,690	8,244,200
68	8,513,610	9,354,780
69	8,413,750	9,379,240
70	8,037,430	9,102,220
71	7,882,310	9,080,830
72	7,331,510	8,605,570
73	7,050,390	8,427,980
74	6,543,190	7,950,910
75	5,922,180	7,318,080
76	5,398,740	6,752,680
77	4,796,340	6,026,550
78	4,378,110	5,505,460
79	3,894,870	4,963,590
80	3,281,650	4,313,570
81	2,778,130	3,757,980
82	2,514,120	3,499,650
83	2,276,860	3,284,130
84	2,038,040	3,050,840
85	1,782,300	2,772,390
86	1,487,200	2,416,300
87	1,224,950	2,081,570
88	1,023,490	1,837,820
89	845,311	1,630,690
90	678,410	1,420,030
91	524,466	1,191,280
92	393,463	964,935
93	283,502	757,416
94	195,841	574,894
95	133,615	433,468
96	87,140	316,596
97	54,240	223,481
98	32,914	154,087
99	19,411	102,808
100+	27,312	181,703

AGG · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

Eastern 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 Eastern Asia

Eastern Asia had the most working-age people it is ever expected to have in 2015: 1,157,000,000 people aged 15–64, against 1,134,810,000 in 2023.

100 aged 15–64

23 children

23 aged 65+

aged 15–64 children under 15 aged 65 and over

How to read this: one orange square for each of 100 people aged 15–64 in 2023. Beneath them, teal for the children living alongside those 100 and violet for the people aged 65 or older.

Fewer than 50 dependants live alongside every 100 people aged 15–64 in 41 years: 1994–2034.

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

How to read this: one stripe a year from 1950 to 2100. A stripe takes colour in a year when fewer than 50 dependants live alongside every 100 people of working age, and stays grey otherwise; hatching means the year is projected.

How every country compares

AGG · arrivals minus departures

Who arrives in Eastern Asia, and who leaves

In 2020–2025 Eastern Asia loses 221,311 people a year: everyone who arrives, minus everyone who leaves. The age at which that happens most is 25–29, at 33,883 a year more leaving than arriving.

one square = 5,000 people a year

020406080+

more arrive than leave more leave than arrive

How to read this: each column is one age, youngest on the left. Above the line, in blue, are the ages gaining people; below it, in orange, the ages losing them. This is the UN's projection for 2020–2025 — the record of migration by age does not go back beyond 2020.

Across the counted years, 1950 to 2023, its biggest single-year gain was 369,567 (2017); its biggest loss, 899,132 (2007).

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 Eastern Asia

Of every 100 babies born in Eastern Asia in 2023, 2 had a mother under 20, 79 a mother aged 20 to 34 and 19 a mother aged 35 or older. In 1950 it was 9 under 20 and 22 aged 35 or older.

1950
9 · 69 · 22

2023
2 · 79 · 19

2050 · projected
1 · 68 · 31

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

How to read this: shrink a year's babies to 100 and colour each one by the age of its mother — that is a block. Under it, the same three groups as numbers, starting with the youngest mothers.

Babies born, 2023: 10,471,429
Average age when women have a baby: 29.4 years; 30.0 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19: 5; 72 in 1950

Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100

Babies born in Eastern Asia by the mother's age
Mother's age	1950	1975	2000	2023	2050 projected	2100 projected
10–14	31,654	16,803	703	317	192	102
15–19	2,263,323	1,264,869	373,697	205,931	75,938	41,683
20–24	6,600,778	9,482,145	6,681,478	1,842,658	575,139	382,411
25–29	6,778,858	8,596,967	8,572,356	3,285,183	1,834,338	1,127,176
30–34	5,026,539	4,033,978	3,647,481	3,156,306	3,523,694	1,444,961
35–39	3,686,808	2,218,366	757,567	1,528,699	2,202,831	818,755
40–44	1,839,813	1,071,203	102,502	357,274	518,597	223,177
45–49	219,023	151,300	13,394	85,572	40,985	21,128
50–54	5,892	9,635	4,209	9,489	505	273
All babies	26,452,688	26,845,266	20,153,387	10,471,429	8,772,219	4,059,666

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 8 countries listed were summed and checked against the UN's total for every year. 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.