UN country group · UN WPP 2024

Low-and-Lower-middle-income countries population

Low-and-Lower-middle-income countries population now

4,190,090,632

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: 3,989,925,480

Year: 2026; projection · medium
Population, mid-2026: 4.17508 billion
Median age: 25.6
Aged 65+: 5.9%

Move through time, 1950–2100

2023 | 2024

male female projection · one cell = 1,000,000 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

Low-and-Lower-middle-income countries in numbers

3,989,925,480 people lived in Low-and-Lower-middle-income countries in mid-2023: 49.3% of the world's people. That is 4.8 times its 1950 population of 823 million.

In the UN's medium projection it is still growing in 2100, when it reaches 6.87 billion.

Births outnumber deaths in every year from 1950 to 2100, estimates and projection alike.

The median age was 20.5 in 1950 and 24.9 in 2023; the projection has 40.1 in 2100. 5.5% of people were 65 or older in 2023, against 19.9% projected for 2100. The working-age population (15–64) is projected to peak in 2095 at 4.26 billion.

Population, mid-2023: 3,989,925,480
Share of the world, 2023: 49.3%
Change in a year, mid-2022 to mid-2023: +1.44% · +56,828,642 people
Births, 2023: 91,679,631
Deaths, 2023: 27,462,100
Net migration, 2023: −4,048,713
Children per woman, 2023: 2.89
Median age, 2023: 24.9 years
Life expectancy at birth, 2023: 68.7 years
Population, mid-1950: 823,141,818
Projected, mid-2050: 5,544,845,094
Projected, mid-2100: 6,872,222,092

AGG · 1950–2100 · total population

Population, 1950–2100

estimates | projections02 bn4 bn6 bn8 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: Low-and-Lower-middle-income countries, 1950–2100

Low-and-Lower-middle-income countries: 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	814,969,979	36,636,674	20,282,002	5.89	39.2
1951	estimate	831,313,658	37,197,985	20,176,413	5.87	40.0
1952	estimate	848,502,332	38,267,370	19,928,685	5.92	41.1
1953	estimate	867,009,752	39,191,954	19,999,063	5.95	41.6
1954	estimate	885,994,864	40,225,473	19,900,613	5.99	42.5
1955	estimate	906,409,457	41,047,685	19,925,526	6.00	43.1
1956	estimate	927,570,744	41,907,255	20,026,026	6.01	43.6
1957	estimate	949,578,695	42,967,388	20,287,157	6.05	43.9
1958	estimate	971,734,167	43,799,108	20,392,360	6.06	44.3
1959	estimate	995,106,519	44,609,017	20,307,274	6.06	45.0
1960	estimate	1,019,418,942	45,606,257	20,496,639	6.09	45.4
1961	estimate	1,044,407,322	46,288,337	20,658,940	6.07	45.7
1962	estimate	1,069,994,336	47,403,962	20,834,938	6.11	46.1
1963	estimate	1,096,166,928	48,327,225	21,038,693	6.12	46.5
1964	estimate	1,123,128,776	49,155,836	21,175,062	6.12	46.9
1965	estimate	1,150,730,785	49,884,993	21,965,097	6.09	46.5
1966	estimate	1,178,221,497	50,683,535	22,115,369	6.07	46.9
1967	estimate	1,206,126,923	51,585,060	22,289,720	6.05	47.2
1968	estimate	1,235,330,747	52,489,073	22,012,885	6.02	48.1
1969	estimate	1,264,772,888	53,378,213	22,157,402	5.98	48.5
1970	estimate	1,294,822,029	54,434,175	22,677,601	5.96	48.4
1971	estimate	1,326,068,872	55,615,528	24,277,088	5.93	47.1
1972	estimate	1,356,005,355	56,722,131	22,925,898	5.89	49.3
1973	estimate	1,388,734,665	57,753,373	22,951,333	5.83	49.9
1974	estimate	1,422,552,901	58,818,308	23,164,180	5.78	50.2
1975	estimate	1,457,624,129	59,757,288	23,536,512	5.71	50.3
1976	estimate	1,493,689,712	61,064,080	23,582,440	5.67	50.9
1977	estimate	1,530,503,898	62,042,988	23,609,204	5.60	51.4
1978	estimate	1,568,133,122	63,308,487	23,722,010	5.54	51.9
1979	estimate	1,606,996,568	64,864,362	23,405,978	5.49	52.8
1980	estimate	1,648,026,369	66,498,980	23,511,460	5.46	53.4
1981	estimate	1,689,722,808	67,844,721	23,661,636	5.40	53.8
1982	estimate	1,733,450,179	69,234,315	23,823,380	5.35	54.2
1983	estimate	1,778,508,474	70,682,903	24,269,023	5.30	54.3
1984	estimate	1,824,138,013	71,960,855	24,477,435	5.24	54.7
1985	estimate	1,870,822,913	72,900,799	24,574,796	5.15	55.1
1986	estimate	1,918,305,988	73,983,181	24,543,572	5.08	55.6
1987	estimate	1,966,449,304	74,533,538	24,467,901	4.99	56.1
1988	estimate	2,015,338,902	75,291,269	24,721,527	4.90	56.4
1989	estimate	2,064,374,067	76,044,206	24,612,215	4.81	56.9
1990	estimate	2,114,351,234	76,657,966	24,874,836	4.73	57.0
1991	estimate	2,165,294,575	77,316,159	25,288,134	4.63	57.1
1992	estimate	2,215,743,707	77,691,008	25,365,814	4.54	57.4
1993	estimate	2,268,040,408	78,079,389	25,400,828	4.44	57.8
1994	estimate	2,318,917,770	78,527,216	26,317,625	4.36	57.3
1995	estimate	2,369,765,944	79,018,437	25,681,100	4.27	58.3
1996	estimate	2,422,226,445	79,371,184	25,837,262	4.18	58.5
1997	estimate	2,474,497,392	79,855,204	25,895,263	4.11	58.9
1998	estimate	2,527,526,046	80,442,963	26,145,796	4.04	59.1
1999	estimate	2,581,372,088	81,327,682	25,989,766	3.98	59.6
2000	estimate	2,634,941,281	82,483,653	25,906,128	3.93	60.1
2001	estimate	2,689,048,454	83,438,095	25,953,890	3.88	60.5
2002	estimate	2,743,981,386	83,883,629	25,920,418	3.81	61.0
2003	estimate	2,797,962,000	84,305,117	25,828,171	3.75	61.5
2004	estimate	2,853,573,691	84,755,501	25,855,417	3.69	61.9
2005	estimate	2,909,728,281	85,075,739	25,859,977	3.63	62.3
2006	estimate	2,965,516,816	85,762,930	25,753,949	3.58	62.8
2007	estimate	3,023,986,792	86,560,043	25,741,253	3.53	63.2
2008	estimate	3,081,566,060	87,609,740	25,875,054	3.50	63.5
2009	estimate	3,139,042,420	88,600,941	26,015,339	3.47	63.9
2010	estimate	3,198,072,488	89,120,623	25,834,012	3.42	64.4
2011	estimate	3,257,761,648	89,634,969	25,957,289	3.37	64.8
2012	estimate	3,317,615,580	90,194,225	25,861,609	3.33	65.3
2013	estimate	3,376,691,415	90,437,048	25,926,710	3.28	65.6
2014	estimate	3,435,959,569	90,120,696	26,120,050	3.23	65.9
2015	estimate	3,494,499,388	90,713,876	26,299,885	3.21	66.2
2016	estimate	3,552,258,292	90,884,137	26,421,058	3.18	66.5
2017	estimate	3,612,387,558	90,446,076	26,618,400	3.12	66.8
2018	estimate	3,671,710,831	90,617,259	26,708,840	3.08	67.2
2019	estimate	3,731,895,198	90,382,185	26,949,276	3.02	67.5
2020	estimate	3,791,646,566	90,132,430	28,796,753	2.97	67.0
2021	estimate	3,851,295,195	90,516,319	32,856,499	2.94	65.4
2022	estimate	3,906,352,598	91,112,714	27,674,154	2.91	68.1
2023	estimate	3,959,841,078	91,679,631	27,462,100	2.89	68.7
2024	estimate	4,020,009,882	92,170,149	27,824,714	2.87	68.9
2025	projection	4,081,873,923	92,473,098	28,284,483	2.84	69.1
2026	projection	4,144,481,819	92,838,322	28,762,415	2.81	69.2
2027	projection	4,205,684,823	93,154,006	29,239,500	2.79	69.4
2028	projection	4,266,745,857	93,492,437	29,750,500	2.76	69.6
2029	projection	4,327,727,476	93,866,676	30,257,093	2.74	69.8
2030	projection	4,388,674,024	94,214,434	30,782,410	2.71	70.0
2031	projection	4,449,480,225	94,523,071	31,327,130	2.69	70.1
2032	projection	4,510,113,320	94,778,810	31,874,243	2.67	70.3
2033	projection	4,570,365,850	95,061,618	32,435,737	2.64	70.5
2034	projection	4,630,355,560	95,331,719	33,003,433	2.62	70.6
2035	projection	4,689,973,986	95,546,313	33,594,085	2.60	70.8
2036	projection	4,749,287,689	95,733,101	34,190,751	2.58	71.0
2037	projection	4,808,171,665	95,833,079	34,808,514	2.56	71.1
2038	projection	4,866,530,252	95,956,109	35,418,958	2.54	71.3
2039	projection	4,924,359,642	96,065,525	36,034,187	2.53	71.4
2040	projection	4,981,722,935	96,205,352	36,653,325	2.51	71.6
2041	projection	5,038,579,967	96,233,181	37,299,797	2.50	71.8
2042	projection	5,094,829,614	96,262,236	37,942,448	2.48	71.9
2043	projection	5,150,344,772	96,284,706	38,594,427	2.46	72.0
2044	projection	5,205,289,523	96,283,391	39,249,651	2.45	72.2
2045	projection	5,259,543,396	96,219,432	39,914,486	2.44	72.3
2046	projection	5,313,112,884	96,204,385	40,579,459	2.42	72.5
2047	projection	5,365,983,847	96,111,891	41,256,628	2.41	72.7
2048	projection	5,418,048,739	96,051,115	41,937,661	2.39	72.8
2049	projection	5,469,362,446	95,969,649	42,624,541	2.38	72.9
2050	projection	5,519,973,862	95,900,788	43,320,310	2.37	73.1
2051	projection	5,569,716,326	95,837,436	44,016,253	2.35	73.2
2052	projection	5,618,687,239	95,754,321	44,724,738	2.34	73.4
2053	projection	5,666,924,150	95,680,959	45,447,066	2.33	73.5
2054	projection	5,714,359,784	95,565,380	46,179,141	2.31	73.6
2055	projection	5,760,971,784	95,491,189	46,906,164	2.30	73.8
2056	projection	5,806,850,825	95,424,125	47,642,604	2.29	73.9
2057	projection	5,851,935,202	95,329,558	48,384,071	2.28	74.0
2058	projection	5,896,102,902	95,225,700	49,136,079	2.26	74.2
2059	projection	5,939,374,118	95,118,623	49,897,737	2.25	74.3
2060	projection	5,981,855,936	94,995,835	50,670,809	2.24	74.4
2061	projection	6,023,400,174	94,843,132	51,439,162	2.23	74.6
2062	projection	6,063,989,934	94,712,950	52,225,502	2.22	74.7
2063	projection	6,103,671,758	94,536,152	53,010,465	2.21	74.8
2064	projection	6,142,346,409	94,373,549	53,798,619	2.19	75.0
2065	projection	6,180,168,492	94,187,485	54,604,697	2.19	75.1
2066	projection	6,217,013,135	94,012,165	55,395,976	2.17	75.2
2067	projection	6,252,798,449	93,797,157	56,205,727	2.17	75.3
2068	projection	6,287,576,724	93,562,673	57,004,909	2.15	75.4
2069	projection	6,321,352,879	93,299,025	57,797,894	2.14	75.6
2070	projection	6,354,027,481	93,049,707	58,600,706	2.13	75.7
2071	projection	6,385,688,292	92,807,715	59,379,870	2.13	75.8
2072	projection	6,416,276,721	92,517,398	60,175,531	2.12	75.9
2073	projection	6,445,859,955	92,228,010	60,928,819	2.11	76.0
2074	projection	6,474,407,289	91,918,561	61,698,586	2.10	76.1
2075	projection	6,501,901,107	91,609,088	62,457,330	2.09	76.2
2076	projection	6,528,245,164	91,306,378	63,191,910	2.08	76.4
2077	projection	6,553,522,987	90,995,971	63,926,509	2.07	76.5
2078	projection	6,577,843,766	90,644,920	64,642,012	2.07	76.6
2079	projection	6,600,995,131	90,307,128	65,332,551	2.06	76.7
2080	projection	6,623,173,409	89,987,353	66,022,598	2.05	76.8
2081	projection	6,644,345,914	89,636,374	66,675,580	2.04	76.9
2082	projection	6,664,323,423	89,341,239	67,328,834	2.04	77.0
2083	projection	6,683,473,154	88,997,100	67,966,151	2.03	77.1
2084	projection	6,701,610,342	88,679,977	68,597,924	2.02	77.2
2085	projection	6,718,899,485	88,333,146	69,230,377	2.02	77.3
2086	projection	6,735,283,387	87,995,202	69,836,362	2.01	77.4
2087	projection	6,750,619,045	87,645,666	70,429,497	2.00	77.5
2088	projection	6,765,043,263	87,312,464	71,002,955	2.00	77.6
2089	projection	6,778,479,627	86,967,982	71,573,669	1.99	77.7
2090	projection	6,791,117,974	86,602,686	72,107,868	1.98	77.8
2091	projection	6,802,932,311	86,250,878	72,633,085	1.98	77.9
2092	projection	6,813,729,128	85,883,309	73,132,739	1.97	78.0
2093	projection	6,823,690,639	85,500,507	73,623,262	1.96	78.1
2094	projection	6,832,779,046	85,123,652	74,093,591	1.96	78.2
2095	projection	6,841,023,112	84,726,726	74,555,101	1.95	78.3
2096	projection	6,848,446,809	84,359,028	74,984,687	1.95	78.4
2097	projection	6,855,150,446	83,985,475	75,412,098	1.94	78.5
2098	projection	6,861,016,328	83,593,457	75,814,770	1.94	78.6
2099	projection	6,866,106,632	83,204,084	76,193,870	1.93	78.8
2100	projection	6,870,413,358	82,796,586	76,566,569	1.93	78.8

AGG · membership

What Low-and-Lower-middle-income countries is

Low-and-Lower-middle-income countries 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: Low-and-Lower-middle-income countries, mid-2026, by single year of age

Low-and-Lower-middle-income countries: population by single year of age, mid-2026
Age	Male	Female
0	45,995,600	44,042,200
1	45,385,000	43,487,700
2	44,966,200	43,058,300
3	44,510,400	42,584,700
4	44,051,200	42,112,900
5	43,676,200	41,720,600
6	43,553,900	41,577,600
7	43,562,400	41,580,600
8	43,413,700	41,423,300
9	43,310,200	41,292,700
10	43,215,900	41,168,000
11	42,893,000	40,831,900
12	42,732,500	40,649,400
13	42,719,500	40,588,100
14	42,412,000	40,242,100
15	41,933,700	39,750,800
16	41,503,400	39,343,600
17	40,946,500	38,852,200
18	40,194,500	38,197,800
19	39,447,000	37,565,800
20	38,772,200	36,994,500
21	38,168,600	36,492,000
22	37,601,700	36,042,900
23	37,014,100	35,570,400
24	36,445,700	35,079,200
25	35,835,100	34,515,900
26	35,067,300	33,811,800
27	34,278,400	33,096,500
28	33,655,200	32,526,500
29	33,171,800	32,084,300
30	32,719,600	31,666,100
31	32,209,500	31,195,000
32	31,667,700	30,708,700
33	31,168,800	30,264,400
34	30,686,500	29,815,300
35	30,185,900	29,349,000
36	29,658,700	28,881,000
37	29,117,100	28,374,500
38	28,559,700	27,863,200
39	28,058,700	27,439,000
40	27,490,800	26,924,400
41	26,831,500	26,290,900
42	26,122,600	25,587,100
43	25,300,400	24,767,800
44	24,483,100	23,951,100
45	23,666,300	23,150,900
46	22,791,100	22,332,200
47	21,890,300	21,505,700
48	21,052,200	20,747,600
49	20,352,400	20,134,300
50	19,665,000	19,538,500
51	18,973,100	18,924,500
52	18,309,400	18,338,300
53	17,678,000	17,786,700
54	17,101,800	17,280,800
55	16,521,100	16,740,000
56	15,929,700	16,191,900
57	15,281,500	15,641,400
58	14,631,400	15,059,200
59	14,022,900	14,496,900
60	13,460,100	13,992,900
61	12,953,900	13,529,600
62	12,427,400	13,051,600
63	11,861,100	12,531,600
64	11,248,200	11,987,900
65	10,651,600	11,454,700
66	10,085,500	10,947,200
67	9,491,380	10,403,200
68	8,907,680	9,841,620
69	8,309,490	9,273,880
70	7,705,280	8,700,030
71	7,130,300	8,149,120
72	6,531,350	7,560,650
73	5,932,220	6,967,270
74	5,357,500	6,386,060
75	4,831,310	5,843,750
76	4,341,930	5,331,460
77	3,734,840	4,659,350
78	3,214,680	4,107,090
79	2,834,480	3,700,550
80	2,448,560	3,238,430
81	2,111,240	2,851,460
82	1,801,940	2,488,260
83	1,536,360	2,180,210
84	1,306,630	1,918,780
85	1,096,660	1,663,130
86	914,208	1,439,010
87	752,254	1,228,640
88	610,478	1,034,160
89	480,528	840,572
90	368,041	660,322
91	276,418	508,396
92	204,630	386,880
93	150,844	296,878
94	109,488	224,367
95	76,800	160,820
96	53,052	115,455
97	35,892	82,154
98	23,282	54,894
99	14,779	36,304
100+	21,245	60,153

AGG · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

Low-and-Lower-middle-income countries, 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 Low-and-Lower-middle-income countries

On the UN's projection, Low-and-Lower-middle-income countries will have the most working-age people it ever has in 2095: 4,255,750,000 people aged 15–64. In 2023 it had 2,503,680,000.

100 aged 15–64

51 children

9 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.

At no point between 1950 and 2100 do fewer than 50 dependants live alongside every 100 people aged 15–64 here.

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 Low-and-Lower-middle-income countries, and who leaves

In 2020–2025 Low-and-Lower-middle-income countries loses 4,143,341 people a year: everyone who arrives, minus everyone who leaves. The age at which that happens most is 20–24, at 654,265 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: 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.

In the years that were counted, 1950–2023, the most it gained in one year was 168,666 (1952) and the most it lost was 9,950,128 (2022).

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 Low-and-Lower-middle-income countries

Of every 100 babies born in low-and-Lower-middle-income countries in 2023, 11 had a mother under 20, 76 a mother aged 20 to 34 and 13 a mother aged 35 or older. In 1950 it was 16 under 20 and 16 aged 35 or older.

1950
16 · 68 · 16

2023
11 · 76 · 13

2050 · projected
8 · 76 · 16

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: 91,679,631
Average age when women have a baby: 28.2 years; 28.8 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19: 52; 133 in 1950

Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100

Babies born in low-and-Lower-middle-income countries by the mother's age
Mother's age	1950	1975	2000	2023	2050 projected	2100 projected
10–14	488,539	876,531	928,066	291,839	155,969	37,158
15–19	5,440,712	10,392,891	14,047,914	9,684,480	7,839,370	3,527,513
20–24	9,783,348	17,030,931	25,524,108	26,658,081	23,367,705	14,210,134
25–29	8,735,908	13,535,899	20,020,882	25,879,170	28,119,445	24,563,957
30–34	6,288,131	9,257,885	12,382,759	17,012,055	21,544,208	23,905,782
35–39	3,905,488	5,695,618	6,531,794	8,575,083	10,696,567	12,452,000
40–44	1,681,540	2,446,603	2,499,043	2,994,924	3,545,365	3,612,528
45–49	299,322	497,454	522,952	551,616	597,320	471,567
50–54	13,686	23,476	26,135	32,383	34,839	15,947
All babies	36,636,674	59,757,288	82,483,653	91,679,631	95,900,788	82,796,586

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.