UN country group · UN WPP 2024

Low-income countries population

Low-income countries population now

803,205,878

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: 736,466,397

Year: 2026; projection · medium
Population, mid-2026: 798.076 million
Median age: 19.3
Aged 65+: 3.4%

Move through time, 1950–2100

2023 | 2024

male female projection · one cell = 200,000 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-income countries in numbers

In mid-2023 there were 736,466,397 people in Low-income countries, and 9.1% of the world's people. That is 6.6 times its 1950 population of 112 million.

In the UN's medium projection it is still growing in 2100, when it reaches 2.15 billion.

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

The median age was 18.6 in 1950 and 18.9 in 2023; the projection has 36.0 in 2100. 3.2% of people were 65 or older in 2023, against 14.5% projected for 2100. The working-age population (15–64) is still growing in 2100 in the medium projection.

Population, mid-2023: 736,466,397
Share of the world, 2023: 9.1%
Change in a year, mid-2022 to mid-2023: +2.73% · +19,600,615 people
Births, 2023: 25,286,088
Deaths, 2023: 5,199,029
Net migration, 2023: +36,142
Children per woman, 2023: 4.53
Median age, 2023: 18.9 years
Life expectancy at birth, 2023: 64.9 years
Population, mid-1950: 112,417,078
Projected, mid-2050: 1,318,140,766
Projected, mid-2100: 2,151,929,820

AGG · 1950–2100 · total population

Population, 1950–2100

estimates | projections0500 m1 bn1.5 bn2 bn2.5 bn1950197520002025205020752100

estimate projection (medium). Each column is the population on 1 January of one year; the paper rules cut it into equal cells.

Show the numbers: Low-income countries, 1950–2100

Low-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	111,733,886	5,346,420	3,709,606	6.48	31.2
1951	estimate	113,100,271	5,245,287	3,487,970	6.25	33.0
1952	estimate	114,611,727	5,356,017	3,175,320	6.26	36.0
1953	estimate	116,551,820	5,513,100	3,124,049	6.32	37.0
1954	estimate	118,678,658	5,664,150	3,082,876	6.37	38.0
1955	estimate	121,040,572	5,801,336	3,099,804	6.39	38.5
1956	estimate	123,546,961	5,913,100	3,118,770	6.38	38.9
1957	estimate	126,165,402	6,120,188	3,273,673	6.47	38.3
1958	estimate	128,837,569	6,261,091	3,302,745	6.48	38.6
1959	estimate	131,547,443	6,336,277	3,188,771	6.42	40.1
1960	estimate	134,544,850	6,494,814	3,218,242	6.44	40.5
1961	estimate	137,706,606	6,619,724	3,255,436	6.41	40.9
1962	estimate	141,004,038	6,808,352	3,296,774	6.45	41.2
1963	estimate	144,421,227	7,005,945	3,351,123	6.49	41.4
1964	estimate	147,989,733	7,178,258	3,376,899	6.50	41.9
1965	estimate	151,750,429	7,365,382	3,437,030	6.52	42.1
1966	estimate	155,647,247	7,581,362	3,536,102	6.57	42.0
1967	estimate	159,672,711	7,825,221	3,526,050	6.63	42.8
1968	estimate	163,986,239	8,004,428	3,572,617	6.63	43.2
1969	estimate	168,414,285	8,205,225	3,626,214	6.65	43.5
1970	estimate	172,918,103	8,414,305	3,674,025	6.67	43.8
1971	estimate	177,574,748	8,610,448	3,721,409	6.68	44.2
1972	estimate	182,251,972	8,831,617	3,866,922	6.71	43.8
1973	estimate	186,911,192	8,954,249	3,847,594	6.66	44.5
1974	estimate	192,031,405	9,144,136	3,946,293	6.65	44.6
1975	estimate	197,093,931	9,365,536	4,002,919	6.66	44.8
1976	estimate	202,280,947	9,578,894	3,984,748	6.64	45.5
1977	estimate	207,574,445	9,818,108	4,034,431	6.65	45.9
1978	estimate	212,674,386	10,070,669	4,110,084	6.66	46.0
1979	estimate	219,064,540	10,416,713	4,175,517	6.68	46.4
1980	estimate	224,725,394	10,693,231	4,230,927	6.68	46.7
1981	estimate	228,980,465	10,880,511	4,280,409	6.68	46.9
1982	estimate	233,688,904	11,066,490	4,352,874	6.67	46.9
1983	estimate	240,192,649	11,366,563	4,734,249	6.65	45.5
1984	estimate	246,580,976	11,650,649	4,889,988	6.64	45.2
1985	estimate	253,401,139	11,965,967	4,918,671	6.63	45.7
1986	estimate	260,037,675	12,254,933	4,830,029	6.61	46.9
1987	estimate	266,926,592	12,538,460	4,700,330	6.58	48.0
1988	estimate	274,151,676	12,832,229	4,893,695	6.55	47.9
1989	estimate	281,463,156	13,116,220	4,738,971	6.52	49.2
1990	estimate	289,337,651	13,437,683	4,850,928	6.48	49.2
1991	estimate	296,558,829	13,717,798	5,029,136	6.45	49.0
1992	estimate	304,747,015	14,049,077	5,129,700	6.41	49.0
1993	estimate	314,594,692	14,470,365	5,055,490	6.38	50.0
1994	estimate	324,599,589	14,805,106	5,874,514	6.35	46.3
1995	estimate	333,640,514	15,223,330	5,171,669	6.32	50.8
1996	estimate	343,772,445	15,542,134	5,261,513	6.26	51.0
1997	estimate	353,827,814	15,824,496	5,286,795	6.21	51.4
1998	estimate	363,815,257	16,098,180	5,496,017	6.17	50.9
1999	estimate	374,348,555	16,477,983	5,349,286	6.12	52.1
2000	estimate	385,052,508	16,801,126	5,268,424	6.07	53.1
2001	estimate	395,106,948	17,072,114	5,257,040	6.00	53.7
2002	estimate	406,407,631	17,371,937	5,263,202	5.94	54.2
2003	estimate	418,934,060	17,716,903	5,177,850	5.87	55.1
2004	estimate	431,220,149	18,075,977	5,176,881	5.82	55.7
2005	estimate	443,545,548	18,441,833	5,164,899	5.76	56.3
2006	estimate	456,765,789	18,841,422	5,106,742	5.70	57.0
2007	estimate	470,723,192	19,235,796	5,071,487	5.63	57.8
2008	estimate	484,379,937	19,616,846	5,037,308	5.56	58.4
2009	estimate	498,432,821	19,959,495	5,260,728	5.49	58.0
2010	estimate	512,737,217	20,305,843	5,007,152	5.41	59.5
2011	estimate	527,371,004	20,608,429	5,184,489	5.32	59.4
2012	estimate	542,246,447	20,916,112	5,033,061	5.24	60.4
2013	estimate	556,656,868	21,177,716	5,007,581	5.16	60.9
2014	estimate	570,396,402	21,456,904	5,122,751	5.11	60.9
2015	estimate	584,776,351	21,782,741	5,171,818	5.05	61.2
2016	estimate	599,574,456	22,130,801	5,187,551	5.00	61.6
2017	estimate	616,160,500	22,576,093	5,271,751	4.94	61.8
2018	estimate	632,953,497	23,029,988	5,138,939	4.88	62.7
2019	estimate	651,418,892	23,529,950	5,195,323	4.81	63.0
2020	estimate	670,017,843	23,983,862	5,262,413	4.74	63.3
2021	estimate	689,103,649	24,426,751	5,527,022	4.67	62.8
2022	estimate	707,326,768	24,848,652	5,495,412	4.60	63.5
2023	estimate	726,404,797	25,286,088	5,199,029	4.53	64.9
2024	estimate	746,527,997	25,724,299	5,294,000	4.46	65.1
2025	projection	766,807,733	26,044,193	5,381,928	4.38	65.3
2026	projection	787,615,818	26,367,895	5,469,242	4.30	65.5
2027	projection	808,536,303	26,677,592	5,559,372	4.22	65.7
2028	projection	829,365,936	26,971,866	5,651,256	4.15	65.9
2029	projection	850,242,102	27,232,438	5,742,996	4.08	66.1
2030	projection	871,363,720	27,482,286	5,837,394	4.00	66.3
2031	projection	892,600,160	27,712,598	5,934,955	3.93	66.4
2032	projection	913,964,552	27,914,000	6,034,665	3.86	66.6
2033	projection	935,317,670	28,128,044	6,134,432	3.79	66.8
2034	projection	956,776,490	28,324,687	6,238,238	3.73	66.9
2035	projection	978,275,319	28,488,855	6,343,119	3.66	67.1
2036	projection	999,907,586	28,665,116	6,453,791	3.60	67.2
2037	projection	1,021,546,922	28,817,200	6,565,741	3.54	67.4
2038	projection	1,043,258,305	29,008,735	6,681,406	3.48	67.6
2039	projection	1,064,947,958	29,195,489	6,801,358	3.43	67.7
2040	projection	1,086,798,645	29,402,639	6,925,857	3.38	67.9
2041	projection	1,108,753,394	29,603,138	7,053,493	3.33	68.0
2042	projection	1,130,684,217	29,808,971	7,185,177	3.28	68.2
2043	projection	1,152,573,702	30,012,947	7,321,754	3.23	68.3
2044	projection	1,174,601,269	30,211,997	7,462,006	3.19	68.5
2045	projection	1,196,607,074	30,399,800	7,604,549	3.15	68.6
2046	projection	1,218,642,453	30,582,630	7,751,946	3.10	68.8
2047	projection	1,240,742,091	30,749,531	7,900,055	3.06	68.9
2048	projection	1,262,840,615	30,936,103	8,055,157	3.02	69.0
2049	projection	1,284,957,599	31,095,944	8,212,696	2.99	69.2
2050	projection	1,307,157,602	31,234,465	8,372,683	2.95	69.3
2051	projection	1,329,123,929	31,373,784	8,535,082	2.92	69.5
2052	projection	1,351,127,310	31,498,675	8,699,714	2.88	69.6
2053	projection	1,373,138,444	31,608,836	8,868,765	2.85	69.7
2054	projection	1,395,089,440	31,711,127	9,041,768	2.82	69.9
2055	projection	1,416,999,429	31,798,045	9,220,978	2.79	70.0
2056	projection	1,438,815,401	31,875,129	9,403,678	2.75	70.1
2057	projection	1,460,575,233	31,948,120	9,590,231	2.73	70.3
2058	projection	1,482,077,957	32,013,536	9,780,113	2.70	70.4
2059	projection	1,503,406,908	32,064,138	9,972,556	2.67	70.5
2060	projection	1,524,759,499	32,100,647	10,168,336	2.64	70.7
2061	projection	1,545,877,880	32,125,931	10,371,666	2.62	70.8
2062	projection	1,566,788,297	32,141,647	10,579,939	2.59	70.9
2063	projection	1,587,466,138	32,143,772	10,794,043	2.57	71.1
2064	projection	1,607,915,436	32,136,048	11,009,999	2.54	71.2
2065	projection	1,628,255,224	32,135,085	11,230,190	2.52	71.3
2066	projection	1,648,389,713	32,145,966	11,458,222	2.50	71.5
2067	projection	1,668,140,188	32,131,781	11,688,008	2.48	71.6
2068	projection	1,687,720,861	32,112,820	11,923,198	2.46	71.7
2069	projection	1,707,050,746	32,098,884	12,164,050	2.44	71.8
2070	projection	1,726,081,401	32,075,181	12,409,669	2.42	72.0
2071	projection	1,744,955,938	32,061,683	12,658,230	2.40	72.1
2072	projection	1,763,446,763	32,035,787	12,911,605	2.38	72.3
2073	projection	1,781,748,181	32,015,554	13,169,782	2.36	72.4
2074	projection	1,799,777,759	31,981,328	13,434,342	2.34	72.5
2075	projection	1,817,474,513	31,947,091	13,700,983	2.33	72.6
2076	projection	1,834,758,685	31,912,548	13,971,939	2.31	72.8
2077	projection	1,851,752,648	31,874,756	14,248,986	2.29	72.9
2078	projection	1,868,558,977	31,821,799	14,523,195	2.28	73.0
2079	projection	1,884,933,585	31,774,382	14,799,718	2.26	73.1
2080	projection	1,901,088,151	31,728,111	15,077,997	2.25	73.3
2081	projection	1,916,833,906	31,676,798	15,358,661	2.23	73.4
2082	projection	1,932,091,086	31,632,033	15,638,351	2.22	73.5
2083	projection	1,947,146,289	31,568,370	15,920,233	2.21	73.6
2084	projection	1,961,829,538	31,504,993	16,201,570	2.19	73.8
2085	projection	1,976,269,378	31,433,302	16,483,729	2.18	73.9
2086	projection	1,990,382,851	31,347,724	16,764,785	2.17	74.0
2087	projection	2,004,008,317	31,253,014	17,041,913	2.15	74.1
2088	projection	2,017,301,181	31,177,672	17,320,017	2.15	74.2
2089	projection	2,030,087,099	31,073,894	17,591,424	2.13	74.3
2090	projection	2,042,639,690	30,971,302	17,862,441	2.12	74.5
2091	projection	2,054,902,199	30,875,759	18,133,082	2.11	74.6
2092	projection	2,066,587,996	30,768,678	18,401,304	2.10	74.7
2093	projection	2,077,953,385	30,664,154	18,668,736	2.09	74.8
2094	projection	2,088,993,691	30,557,861	18,930,155	2.08	75.0
2095	projection	2,099,614,725	30,439,296	19,188,476	2.07	75.1
2096	projection	2,109,875,804	30,329,298	19,445,051	2.06	75.2
2097	projection	2,119,891,365	30,213,362	19,701,876	2.05	75.3
2098	projection	2,129,500,880	30,102,678	19,954,796	2.04	75.4
2099	projection	2,138,757,210	29,988,446	20,201,786	2.04	75.6
2100	projection	2,147,650,443	29,875,963	20,446,880	2.03	75.7

AGG · membership

What Low-income countries is

Low-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-income countries, mid-2026, by single year of age

Low-income countries: population by single year of age, mid-2026
Age	Male	Female
0	12,853,400	12,468,200
1	12,530,600	12,182,200
2	12,256,500	11,918,800
3	11,964,100	11,635,600
4	11,676,900	11,365,000
5	11,408,700	11,113,100
6	11,148,700	10,864,600
7	10,874,100	10,605,400
8	10,593,300	10,340,600
9	10,321,000	10,082,300
10	10,076,500	9,849,040
11	9,863,030	9,644,700
12	9,671,950	9,460,560
13	9,498,710	9,295,410
14	9,313,320	9,118,830
15	9,116,440	8,930,090
16	8,915,890	8,739,580
17	8,709,850	8,545,590
18	8,489,250	8,338,970
19	8,252,120	8,117,480
20	8,013,950	7,896,080
21	7,774,190	7,675,210
22	7,542,280	7,461,920
23	7,324,510	7,260,060
24	7,112,190	7,061,510
25	6,895,190	6,855,660
26	6,673,870	6,642,990
27	6,436,700	6,413,850
28	6,211,850	6,196,290
29	6,017,460	6,009,550
30	5,822,010	5,823,420
31	5,593,720	5,604,900
32	5,369,090	5,391,090
33	5,156,760	5,190,710
34	4,930,040	4,975,930
35	4,721,160	4,778,540
36	4,533,860	4,602,130
37	4,356,540	4,434,240
38	4,184,720	4,270,250
39	4,015,190	4,108,350
40	3,842,780	3,943,330
41	3,670,000	3,776,060
42	3,507,840	3,617,210
43	3,367,010	3,478,030
44	3,246,320	3,360,090
45	3,125,980	3,243,970
46	2,995,520	3,116,970
47	2,854,900	2,981,920
48	2,715,240	2,850,440
49	2,594,020	2,736,120
50	2,488,150	2,637,520
51	2,388,180	2,543,990
52	2,296,970	2,457,040
53	2,229,510	2,395,090
54	2,154,890	2,326,660
55	2,061,410	2,239,470
56	1,970,030	2,153,920
57	1,877,900	2,066,700
58	1,790,330	1,983,650
59	1,692,480	1,889,640
60	1,587,260	1,787,780
61	1,494,620	1,698,700
62	1,410,670	1,618,050
63	1,325,170	1,534,400
64	1,237,600	1,446,750
65	1,162,660	1,370,800
66	1,092,230	1,297,880
67	1,026,020	1,227,840
68	958,539	1,154,700
69	874,146	1,061,300
70	798,218	976,920
71	732,698	904,060
72	661,583	823,970
73	589,576	741,913
74	523,829	666,600
75	480,143	618,916
76	440,250	577,062
77	392,119	522,492
78	350,294	474,947
79	308,828	427,419
80	265,255	374,806
81	224,436	324,573
82	188,089	279,260
83	155,788	238,436
84	127,194	201,550
85	102,279	168,051
86	80,971	138,390
87	63,004	112,661
88	47,757	89,768
89	35,000	69,434
90	24,830	52,318
91	17,206	38,776
92	11,660	28,322
93	7,696	20,221
94	4,958	14,118
95	3,120	9,636
96	1,916	6,418
97	1,148	4,168
98	673	2,648
99	388	1,652
100+	482	2,464

AGG · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

Low-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-income countries

In Low-income countries the number of people aged 15–64 is still growing in 2100, the last year the UN projects. In 2023 there were 407,318,000 of them.

100 aged 15–64

75 children

6 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: 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 Low-income countries, and who leaves

In 2020–2025 Low-income countries loses 162,276 people a year: everyone who arrives, minus everyone who leaves. The age at which that happens most is 0–4, at 53,976 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 928,274 (1992); its biggest loss, 2,430,657 (2013).

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-income countries

Of every 100 babies born in low-income countries in 2023, 15 had a mother under 20, 70 a mother aged 20 to 34 and 15 a mother aged 35 or older. In 1950 it was 16 under 20 and 18 aged 35 or older.

1950
16 · 66 · 18

2023
15 · 70 · 15

2050 · projected
12 · 71 · 17

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: 25,286,088
Average age when women have a baby: 29.2 years; 29.4 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19: 92; 137 in 1950

Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100

Babies born in low-income countries by the mother's age
Mother's age	1950	1975	2000	2023	2050 projected	2100 projected
10–14	81,477	168,451	226,370	136,085	75,263	15,497
15–19	786,620	1,465,223	2,613,626	3,652,265	3,515,224	1,536,093
20–24	1,366,737	2,268,091	4,239,512	6,847,539	7,841,668	5,320,002
25–29	1,247,049	2,156,322	3,910,823	6,282,975	8,162,598	8,372,169
30–34	922,936	1,623,590	2,977,017	4,481,507	6,300,635	8,150,224
35–39	581,812	1,045,470	1,805,182	2,603,647	3,645,911	4,709,607
40–44	286,381	509,307	817,803	1,046,500	1,414,158	1,548,077
45–49	69,772	122,807	200,807	225,052	267,211	217,601
50–54	3,636	6,275	9,986	10,518	11,797	6,693
All babies	5,346,420	9,365,536	16,801,126	25,286,088	31,234,465	29,875,963

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.