Country or area · Northern America · Americas · UN WPP 2024

Greenland population

Greenland population now

55,596

A projection read at this second, not a count: the UN's totals for 1 January 2026 and 2027, joined by a straight line. 95% range for 31 December 2026: 54,094–56,824.

Mid-2023, UN estimate: 55,922

Year: 2026; projection · medium
Population, mid-2026: 55,628; 95% range, 31 Dec: 54,094–56,824
Median age: 36.5
Aged 65+: 12.3%

Move through time, 1950–2100

2023 | 2024

male female projection · one cell = 20 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

GRL · 1950–2100 · in brief

Greenland in numbers

Greenland had 55,922 people in mid-2023, the 209th-largest population of the 236 countries and areas the UN reports, and less than 0.01% of the world's people. That is 2.4 times its 1950 population of 23,208.

Its population peaked in 2005 at 56,950 and has been falling since. The UN's medium projection has 37,230 in 2100. The projection is uncertain: on 1 January 2100 the UN's 95% range runs from 12,545 to 97,487.

The medium projection has deaths passing births in 2030 and staying above them from then on.

The median age was 18.6 in 1950 and 35.2 in 2023; the projection has 45.9 in 2100. 10.1% of people were 65 or older in 2023, against 25.7% projected for 2100. The working-age population (15–64) peaked in 2012 at 40,334; in 2023 it was 38,631.

By size it is the 209th country in 2023; the projection puts it 212th in 2050 and 215th in 2100. In the medium projection it overtakes Bermuda in 2086. It is overtaken by the Faroe Islands in 2025, Sint Maarten in 2047 and the Turks and Caicos Islands in 2047.

Population, mid-2023: 55,922
Rank by population, 2023: 209 of 236
Share of the world, 2023: less than 0.01%
Change in a year, mid-2022 to mid-2023: −0.12% · −68 people
People per km² of land, 2023: 0.1
Land area, 2023: 410,450 km²
Births, 2023: 789
Deaths, 2023: 551
Net migration, 2023: −318
Children per woman, 2023: 1.95
Median age, 2023: 35.2 years
Life expectancy at birth, 2023: 70.1 years
In a city, 2025: 0 of every 100
Population, mid-1950: 23,208
Projected, mid-2050: 49,898
Projected, mid-2100: 37,230

GRL · 1950–2100 · total population

Population, 1950–2100

estimates | projections020 k40 k60 k80 k100 k1950197520002025205020752100

estimate projection, up to the bottom of the 95% range 95% range medium projection. Each column is the population on 1 January of one year; the paper rules cut it into equal cells.

Show the numbers: Greenland, 1950–2100

Greenland: population on 1 January, births, deaths, fertility and life expectancy, 1950–2100
Year	Kind	Population, 1 Jan	95% range	Births	Deaths	Children per woman	Life expectancy
1950	estimate	22,958		964	514	5.64	39.5
1951	estimate	23,459		1,001	492	5.73	41.1
1952	estimate	23,870		1,035	464	5.80	42.9
1953	estimate	24,478		1,083	447	5.92	44.6
1954	estimate	25,138		1,142	424	6.09	46.6
1955	estimate	25,857		1,200	400	6.27	48.8
1956	estimate	26,664		1,235	372	6.33	51.1
1957	estimate	27,698		1,290	350	6.40	53.5
1958	estimate	28,826		1,349	334	6.47	55.6
1959	estimate	30,055		1,422	325	6.58	57.3
1960	estimate	31,400		1,498	320	6.69	58.5
1961	estimate	32,809		1,568	321	6.78	59.4
1962	estimate	34,025		1,592	322	6.79	59.9
1963	estimate	35,265		1,610	325	6.76	60.3
1964	estimate	36,543		1,623	326	6.65	60.7
1965	estimate	37,876		1,623	324	6.42	61.2
1966	estimate	39,237		1,575	321	6.03	61.6
1967	estimate	40,697		1,516	316	5.54	62.2
1968	estimate	42,098		1,411	311	4.93	62.7
1969	estimate	43,463		1,258	306	4.21	63.0
1970	estimate	44,811		1,100	308	3.54	63.0
1971	estimate	46,119		1,026	316	3.20	63.0
1972	estimate	46,881		989	327	3.01	62.7
1973	estimate	47,635		925	342	2.74	62.4
1974	estimate	48,319		857	359	2.45	62.0
1975	estimate	48,925		847	373	2.33	61.8
1976	estimate	49,418		858	384	2.27	61.7
1977	estimate	49,764		900	394	2.28	61.6
1978	estimate	49,746		890	398	2.20	61.8
1979	estimate	49,755		922	400	2.21	62.0
1980	estimate	49,808		1,010	405	2.35	62.2
1981	estimate	50,413		1,042	412	2.32	62.3
1982	estimate	51,024		1,046	418	2.23	62.5
1983	estimate	51,654		1,021	424	2.09	62.6
1984	estimate	52,280		1,067	431	2.11	62.8
1985	estimate	52,943		1,128	440	2.17	62.8
1986	estimate	53,479		1,097	448	2.08	62.9
1987	estimate	54,000		1,117	457	2.10	62.9
1988	estimate	54,531		1,201	467	2.27	63.0
1989	estimate	55,068		1,225	473	2.34	63.1
1990	estimate	55,567		1,246	477	2.42	63.2
1991	estimate	55,694		1,219	475	2.44	63.5
1992	estimate	55,747		1,236	473	2.55	63.8
1993	estimate	55,759		1,203	469	2.56	64.1
1994	estimate	55,758		1,150	477	2.54	63.9
1995	estimate	55,742		1,103	472	2.51	64.2
1996	estimate	55,937		1,070	475	2.52	64.3
1997	estimate	56,061		1,077	478	2.60	64.5
1998	estimate	56,138		983	479	2.44	64.7
1999	estimate	56,161		930	472	2.37	65.1
2000	estimate	56,098		897	463	2.35	65.6
2001	estimate	56,319		929	457	2.45	66.3
2002	estimate	56,503		937	447	2.49	67.0
2003	estimate	56,681		895	439	2.39	67.6
2004	estimate	56,842		889	450	2.38	67.5
2005	estimate	56,971		875	452	2.33	67.8
2006	estimate	56,928		846	451	2.26	68.1
2007	estimate	56,837		854	456	2.27	68.3
2008	estimate	56,727		859	463	2.27	68.4
2009	estimate	56,595		885	472	2.32	68.4
2010	estimate	56,448		859	477	2.24	68.5
2011	estimate	56,781		829	483	2.10	68.8
2012	estimate	56,888		807	477	2.00	69.3
2013	estimate	56,668		816	473	2.01	69.8
2014	estimate	56,358		816	474	2.01	70.1
2015	estimate	55,988		843	478	2.08	70.2
2016	estimate	56,054		846	484	2.07	70.4
2017	estimate	56,068		851	493	2.06	70.4
2018	estimate	56,074		836	503	2.02	70.3
2019	estimate	56,073		831	513	2.01	70.3
2020	estimate	56,095		825	522	2.00	70.2
2021	estimate	56,064		816	533	1.99	70.0
2022	estimate	56,019		804	542	1.97	70.0
2023	estimate	55,962		789	551	1.95	70.1
2024	estimate	55,883		762	563	1.93	70.2
2025	projection	55,796	55,357–56,184	738	576	1.91	70.3
2026	projection	55,693	54,775–56,488	714	589	1.90	70.4
2027	projection	55,564	54,094–56,824	694	603	1.88	70.5
2028	projection	55,432	53,344–57,126	675	617	1.87	70.7
2029	projection	55,300	52,539–57,448	658	631	1.87	70.8
2030	projection	55,134	51,746–57,881	643	645	1.86	70.9
2031	projection	54,967	51,087–58,255	629	659	1.85	71.0
2032	projection	54,789	50,290–58,666	617	673	1.85	71.1
2033	projection	54,573	49,485–59,087	607	686	1.84	71.3
2034	projection	54,354	48,725–59,419	599	699	1.84	71.4
2035	projection	54,126	48,061–59,854	592	712	1.83	71.5
2036	projection	53,874	47,125–60,268	589	724	1.83	71.6
2037	projection	53,621	46,203–60,826	587	736	1.82	71.7
2038	projection	53,350	45,259–61,114	587	746	1.82	71.9
2039	projection	53,088	44,459–61,544	588	757	1.82	72.0
2040	projection	52,815	43,569–61,956	590	765	1.82	72.1
2041	projection	52,529	42,649–62,252	592	773	1.81	72.2
2042	projection	52,255	41,996–62,783	594	777	1.81	72.3
2043	projection	51,979	41,084–62,835	594	780	1.81	72.5
2044	projection	51,695	40,417–63,110	595	780	1.81	72.6
2045	projection	51,408	39,933–63,564	594	780	1.81	72.7
2046	projection	51,124	39,152–64,118	593	778	1.80	72.9
2047	projection	50,847	38,362–64,784	591	775	1.80	73.0
2048	projection	50,561	37,632–65,379	588	771	1.80	73.1
2049	projection	50,282	36,881–65,624	584	765	1.80	73.2
2050	projection	50,026	36,166–66,045	580	759	1.80	73.3
2051	projection	49,770	35,446–66,232	575	751	1.79	73.5
2052	projection	49,506	34,922–67,061	568	743	1.79	73.6
2053	projection	49,245	34,426–67,636	561	735	1.79	73.7
2054	projection	48,992	33,892–67,890	553	726	1.79	73.9
2055	projection	48,727	33,421–68,294	543	717	1.79	74.0
2056	projection	48,480	32,813–69,027	534	709	1.78	74.1
2057	projection	48,235	32,283–69,591	525	702	1.78	74.2
2058	projection	47,993	31,634–70,291	516	695	1.78	74.4
2059	projection	47,742	31,149–71,230	507	689	1.78	74.5
2060	projection	47,496	30,623–71,818	498	684	1.77	74.6
2061	projection	47,232	30,168–72,078	490	680	1.77	74.8
2062	projection	46,967	29,292–72,584	483	677	1.77	74.9
2063	projection	46,692	28,700–72,317	477	675	1.77	75.0
2064	projection	46,419	28,188–72,714	471	674	1.77	75.1
2065	projection	46,145	27,617–73,152	466	673	1.77	75.3
2066	projection	45,872	26,920–73,528	461	673	1.76	75.4
2067	projection	45,602	26,166–73,939	458	673	1.76	75.5
2068	projection	45,314	25,491–74,674	456	674	1.76	75.7
2069	projection	45,022	24,714–75,738	454	675	1.76	75.8
2070	projection	44,742	24,091–76,220	451	675	1.76	75.9
2071	projection	44,453	23,378–76,812	450	675	1.76	76.0
2072	projection	44,164	23,002–77,677	448	675	1.76	76.2
2073	projection	43,886	22,438–77,968	448	674	1.76	76.3
2074	projection	43,601	21,507–78,441	447	672	1.76	76.4
2075	projection	43,328	21,029–78,598	445	669	1.75	76.6
2076	projection	43,039	20,661–79,163	444	665	1.75	76.7
2077	projection	42,770	20,022–80,365	442	661	1.75	76.8
2078	projection	42,504	19,502–81,163	440	656	1.75	76.9
2079	projection	42,240	18,978–81,647	437	649	1.75	77.1
2080	projection	41,984	18,360–82,299	433	643	1.75	77.2
2081	projection	41,723	17,950–82,912	430	636	1.74	77.3
2082	projection	41,479	17,545–83,387	427	628	1.74	77.5
2083	projection	41,230	17,187–84,396	422	621	1.74	77.6
2084	projection	40,979	16,885–85,158	419	613	1.74	77.7
2085	projection	40,742	16,582–86,711	414	605	1.74	77.8
2086	projection	40,499	16,125–87,043	409	598	1.74	78.0
2087	projection	40,275	15,857–87,760	404	590	1.74	78.1
2088	projection	40,049	15,840–88,120	400	583	1.74	78.2
2089	projection	39,825	15,395–89,140	395	577	1.74	78.3
2090	projection	39,605	14,900–90,173	390	571	1.74	78.5
2091	projection	39,377	14,512–91,388	384	566	1.74	78.6
2092	projection	39,145	14,440–91,288	380	562	1.74	78.7
2093	projection	38,929	14,190–91,808	375	558	1.74	78.8
2094	projection	38,704	14,001–92,349	371	556	1.74	79.0
2095	projection	38,478	13,710–93,181	367	553	1.74	79.1
2096	projection	38,246	13,539–93,974	363	551	1.74	79.2
2097	projection	38,024	13,318–94,475	360	550	1.74	79.3
2098	projection	37,807	12,912–95,777	357	549	1.73	79.5
2099	projection	37,568	12,701–96,635	354	548	1.73	79.6
2100	projection	37,351	12,545–97,487	351	547	1.73	79.7

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

Greenland: population by single year of age, mid-2026
Age	Male	Female
0	365	349
1	374	356
2	384	366
3	394	376
4	400	382
5	404	384
6	416	396
7	424	401
8	412	390
9	402	381
10	394	372
11	386	366
12	382	360
13	380	356
14	378	355
15	374	352
16	371	350
17	367	344
18	358	336
19	350	330
20	340	322
21	332	312
22	327	309
23	330	312
24	338	318
25	348	331
26	362	347
27	380	364
28	398	381
29	412	399
30	427	414
31	446	431
32	460	447
33	468	451
34	475	452
35	474	450
36	468	440
37	459	430
38	450	419
39	438	408
40	426	394
41	418	378
42	408	361
43	398	348
44	383	337
45	369	319
46	351	304
47	332	290
48	318	270
49	306	254
50	294	244
51	284	231
52	280	226
53	288	231
54	314	250
55	351	280
56	396	324
57	440	372
58	470	407
59	486	424
60	491	433
61	481	433
62	462	416
63	444	395
64	423	375
65	403	348
66	382	314
67	358	284
68	330	255
69	300	232
70	268	206
71	235	183
72	202	167
73	174	150
74	154	134
75	134	117
76	118	100
77	106	82
78	92	68
79	81	62
80	72	58
81	62	57
82	56	57
83	48	52
84	38	45
85	30	38
86	22	29
87	16	20
88	10	15
89	7	10
90	5	8
91	4	7
92	3	5
93	2	5
94	2	3
95	1	2
96	1	2
97	0	1
98	0	1
99	0	0
100+	0	0

GRL · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

Greenland, 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.

GRL · ages 15–64

Who does the work in Greenland

Greenland had the most working-age people it is ever expected to have in 2012: 40,332 people aged 15–64, against 38,630 in 2023.

100 aged 15–64

30 children

15 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 47 years: 1980–2026.

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

GRL · arrivals minus departures

Who arrives in Greenland, and who leaves

In 2020–2025 Greenland loses 308 people a year: everyone who arrives, minus everyone who leaves. The age at which that happens most is 15–19, at 39 a year more leaving than arriving.

one square = 5 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 518 (1970) and the most it lost was 748 (1992).

In 2024, 5,812 people living in Greenland had been born in another country, 10 of every 100 people there, against 17 in 1990.

How migration works everywhere

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

Who has the babies in Greenland

Of every 100 babies born in Greenland in 2023, 8 had a mother under 20, 79 a mother aged 20 to 34 and 13 a mother aged 35 or older. In 1950 it was 9 under 20 and 21 aged 35 or older.

1950
9 · 70 · 21

2023
8 · 79 · 13

2050 · projected
5 · 78 · 17

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: 789
Average age when women have a baby: 27.9 years; 30.1 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19: 36; 70 in 1950

Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100

Babies born in Greenland by the mother's age
Mother's age	1950	1975	2000	2023	2050 projected	2100 projected
10–14	0	2	1	0	0	0
15–19	90	159	141	61	31	9
20–24	267	278	238	180	125	52
25–29	222	219	193	233	153	90
30–34	186	127	207	207	175	119
35–39	138	46	101	92	81	65
40–44	54	14	15	15	14	15
45–49	7	2	1	1	1	1
50–54	0	0	0	0	0	0
All babies	964	847	897	789	580	351

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

GRL · forced from home · end of 2025

Displacement in Greenland

UNHCR publishes no refugees, asylum-seekers or displaced people in or from Greenland at the end of 2025.

That is an absence from the record rather than a measurement. This count covers the people one agency works with, and a country it does not work in is simply not in it.

How the world's displacement is counted

GRL · of every 100 people

How people live in Greenland

Of every 100 people in Greenland in 2025, 43 lived in a town or suburb and 57 in the countryside.

towns and suburbs rural areas

Nearly everyone has electricity at home (2024).

How to read this: 100 squares, one for every 100th person, coloured by where they live, as the key says. The same rule is used in every country.

How the world's people live

GRL · cities · 2025

Cities in Greenland

No place in Greenland is big and dense enough to count as a city under the UN's rule — at least 50,000 people, living 1,500 or more to the square kilometre.

All the world's cities

Apparatus

Sources and method

Every figure on this page comes from the UN's World Population Prospects 2024: the annual country tables (estimates to 2023, projections with 95% intervals from 2024), and the population by single year of age and sex for the pyramid.

The censuses, surveys and registers behind the UN's estimates for Greenland are listed, source by source, on the UN's own data sources page.

Sources: UN WPP 2024 · World Bank · UNHCR · country code lists · UN WUP 2025 · Wittgenstein Centre · WHO GHO · flag-icons · Natural Earth. 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.