UN country group · UN WPP 2024

Lower-middle-income countries population

Lower-middle-income countries population now

3,386,884,754

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: 3,253,459,083

Year: 2026; projection · medium
Population, mid-2026: 3.37701 billion
Median age: 27.2
Aged 65+: 6.6%

Move through time, 1950–2100

2023 | 2024 peak 2089

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

Lower-middle-income countries in numbers

In mid-2023 there were 3,253,459,083 people in Lower-middle-income countries, and 40.2% of the world's people. That is 4.6 times its 1950 population of 711 million.

The UN's medium projection has it peaking in 2089 at 4.75 billion, then falling to 4.72 billion by 2100.

In the medium projection, deaths outnumber births every year from 2093 on.

The median age was 20.8 in 1950 and 26.5 in 2023; the projection has 42.2 in 2100. 6.0% of people were 65 or older in 2023, against 22.4% projected for 2100. The working-age population (15–64) is projected to peak in 2073 at 2.95 billion.

Population, mid-2023: 3,253,459,083
Share of the world, 2023: 40.2%
Change in a year, mid-2022 to mid-2023: +1.16% · +37,228,027 people
Births, 2023: 66,393,543
Deaths, 2023: 22,263,077
Net migration, 2023: −4,084,855
Children per woman, 2023: 2.55
Median age, 2023: 26.5 years
Life expectancy at birth, 2023: 69.6 years
Population, mid-1950: 710,724,740
Projected, mid-2050: 4,226,704,328
Projected, mid-2100: 4,720,292,273

AGG · 1950–2100 · total population

Population, 1950–2100

peak 2089estimates | projections01 bn2 bn3 bn4 bn5 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: Lower-middle-income countries, 1950–2100

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	703,236,093	31,290,254	16,572,380	5.80	40.8
1951	estimate	718,213,387	31,952,698	16,688,447	5.81	41.3
1952	estimate	733,890,605	32,911,353	16,753,364	5.87	42.0
1953	estimate	750,457,932	33,678,854	16,875,008	5.89	42.4
1954	estimate	767,316,206	34,561,323	16,817,751	5.93	43.2
1955	estimate	785,368,885	35,246,349	16,825,717	5.94	43.9
1956	estimate	804,023,783	35,994,155	16,907,254	5.95	44.4
1957	estimate	823,413,293	36,847,200	17,013,485	5.99	44.8
1958	estimate	842,896,598	37,538,017	17,089,608	6.00	45.3
1959	estimate	863,559,076	38,272,740	17,118,501	6.01	45.8
1960	estimate	884,874,092	39,111,443	17,278,390	6.04	46.2
1961	estimate	906,700,716	39,668,613	17,403,499	6.02	46.5
1962	estimate	928,990,298	40,595,610	17,538,155	6.06	47.0
1963	estimate	951,745,701	41,321,280	17,687,562	6.07	47.3
1964	estimate	975,139,043	41,977,578	17,798,162	6.06	47.8
1965	estimate	998,980,356	42,519,611	18,528,073	6.03	47.3
1966	estimate	1,022,574,250	43,102,173	18,579,269	5.99	47.7
1967	estimate	1,046,454,212	43,759,839	18,763,658	5.96	48.0
1968	estimate	1,071,344,508	44,484,645	18,440,268	5.92	48.9
1969	estimate	1,096,358,603	45,172,988	18,531,189	5.88	49.3
1970	estimate	1,121,903,926	46,019,870	19,003,578	5.85	49.2
1971	estimate	1,148,494,124	47,005,080	20,555,677	5.81	47.6
1972	estimate	1,173,753,383	47,890,514	19,058,974	5.76	50.3
1973	estimate	1,201,823,473	48,799,124	19,103,727	5.70	50.8
1974	estimate	1,230,521,496	49,674,172	19,217,886	5.64	51.2
1975	estimate	1,260,530,198	50,391,752	19,533,599	5.56	51.3
1976	estimate	1,291,408,765	51,485,186	19,597,693	5.51	51.8
1977	estimate	1,322,929,453	52,224,880	19,574,774	5.43	52.4
1978	estimate	1,355,458,736	53,237,818	19,611,920	5.36	52.9
1979	estimate	1,387,932,028	54,447,649	19,230,453	5.30	54.0
1980	estimate	1,423,300,975	55,805,749	19,280,529	5.26	54.6
1981	estimate	1,460,742,343	56,964,210	19,381,225	5.20	55.0
1982	estimate	1,499,761,275	58,167,825	19,470,508	5.14	55.5
1983	estimate	1,538,315,825	59,316,340	19,534,781	5.09	56.0
1984	estimate	1,577,557,037	60,310,206	19,587,434	5.02	56.5
1985	estimate	1,617,421,774	60,934,832	19,656,116	4.92	56.9
1986	estimate	1,658,268,313	61,728,248	19,713,550	4.85	57.3
1987	estimate	1,699,522,712	61,995,078	19,767,563	4.75	57.6
1988	estimate	1,741,187,226	62,459,040	19,827,814	4.65	58.0
1989	estimate	1,782,910,911	62,927,986	19,873,239	4.55	58.3
1990	estimate	1,825,013,583	63,220,283	20,023,905	4.46	58.5
1991	estimate	1,868,735,746	63,598,361	20,258,990	4.37	58.7
1992	estimate	1,910,996,692	63,641,931	20,236,113	4.26	59.0
1993	estimate	1,953,445,716	63,609,024	20,345,331	4.15	59.3
1994	estimate	1,994,318,181	63,722,110	20,443,120	4.05	59.5
1995	estimate	2,036,125,430	63,795,107	20,509,422	3.96	59.8
1996	estimate	2,078,454,000	63,829,050	20,575,743	3.87	60.0
1997	estimate	2,120,669,578	64,030,708	20,608,480	3.79	60.4
1998	estimate	2,163,710,789	64,344,783	20,649,787	3.71	60.7
1999	estimate	2,207,023,533	64,849,699	20,640,480	3.65	61.1
2000	estimate	2,249,888,773	65,682,527	20,637,706	3.60	61.5
2001	estimate	2,293,941,506	66,365,981	20,696,852	3.55	61.9
2002	estimate	2,337,573,755	66,511,692	20,657,222	3.48	62.4
2003	estimate	2,379,027,940	66,588,214	20,650,317	3.41	62.8
2004	estimate	2,422,353,542	66,679,524	20,678,532	3.35	63.1
2005	estimate	2,466,182,733	66,633,906	20,695,088	3.28	63.5
2006	estimate	2,508,751,027	66,921,508	20,647,201	3.24	64.0
2007	estimate	2,553,263,600	67,324,247	20,669,771	3.19	64.4
2008	estimate	2,597,186,123	67,992,894	20,837,739	3.15	64.6
2009	estimate	2,640,609,599	68,641,446	20,754,611	3.13	65.1
2010	estimate	2,685,335,271	68,814,780	20,826,864	3.08	65.5
2011	estimate	2,730,390,644	69,026,540	20,772,802	3.03	65.9
2012	estimate	2,775,369,133	69,278,113	20,828,554	3.00	66.3
2013	estimate	2,820,034,547	69,259,332	20,919,126	2.95	66.7
2014	estimate	2,865,563,167	68,663,792	20,997,305	2.90	67.0
2015	estimate	2,909,723,037	68,931,135	21,128,072	2.88	67.3
2016	estimate	2,952,683,836	68,753,336	21,233,493	2.85	67.7
2017	estimate	2,996,227,058	67,869,983	21,346,654	2.78	68.0
2018	estimate	3,038,757,334	67,587,271	21,569,897	2.74	68.3
2019	estimate	3,080,476,306	66,852,235	21,753,954	2.68	68.5
2020	estimate	3,121,628,723	66,148,568	23,534,342	2.63	67.9
2021	estimate	3,162,191,546	66,089,568	27,329,482	2.59	66.2
2022	estimate	3,199,025,830	66,264,062	22,178,749	2.57	69.3
2023	estimate	3,233,436,281	66,393,543	22,263,077	2.55	69.6
2024	estimate	3,273,481,885	66,445,850	22,530,700	2.53	69.8
2025	projection	3,315,066,190	66,428,905	22,902,553	2.51	70.0
2026	projection	3,356,866,001	66,470,427	23,293,164	2.48	70.2
2027	projection	3,397,148,520	66,476,414	23,680,143	2.46	70.4
2028	projection	3,437,379,921	66,520,571	24,099,249	2.44	70.5
2029	projection	3,477,485,374	66,634,238	24,514,112	2.42	70.7
2030	projection	3,517,310,304	66,732,148	24,945,015	2.41	70.9
2031	projection	3,556,880,065	66,810,473	25,392,162	2.39	71.1
2032	projection	3,596,148,768	66,864,810	25,839,576	2.37	71.2
2033	projection	3,635,048,180	66,933,574	26,301,296	2.35	71.4
2034	projection	3,673,579,070	67,007,032	26,765,196	2.34	71.6
2035	projection	3,711,698,667	67,057,458	27,250,968	2.33	71.8
2036	projection	3,749,380,103	67,067,985	27,736,971	2.31	71.9
2037	projection	3,786,624,743	67,015,879	28,242,780	2.30	72.1
2038	projection	3,823,271,947	66,947,374	28,737,545	2.28	72.2
2039	projection	3,859,411,684	66,870,036	29,232,843	2.27	72.4
2040	projection	3,894,924,290	66,802,713	29,727,456	2.26	72.6
2041	projection	3,929,826,573	66,630,043	30,246,306	2.25	72.7
2042	projection	3,964,145,397	66,453,265	30,757,278	2.24	72.9
2043	projection	3,997,771,070	66,271,759	31,272,661	2.23	73.0
2044	projection	4,030,688,254	66,071,394	31,787,648	2.22	73.2
2045	projection	4,062,936,322	65,819,632	32,309,941	2.21	73.3
2046	projection	4,094,470,431	65,621,755	32,827,498	2.20	73.5
2047	projection	4,125,241,756	65,362,360	33,356,558	2.19	73.6
2048	projection	4,155,208,124	65,115,012	33,882,495	2.18	73.8
2049	projection	4,184,404,847	64,873,705	34,411,845	2.17	73.9
2050	projection	4,212,816,260	64,666,323	34,947,639	2.17	74.1
2051	projection	4,240,592,397	64,463,652	35,481,176	2.16	74.2
2052	projection	4,267,559,929	64,255,646	36,025,014	2.15	74.4
2053	projection	4,293,785,706	64,072,123	36,578,298	2.14	74.5
2054	projection	4,319,270,344	63,854,253	37,137,382	2.13	74.7
2055	projection	4,343,972,355	63,693,144	37,685,181	2.12	74.8
2056	projection	4,368,035,424	63,548,996	38,238,914	2.12	74.9
2057	projection	4,391,359,969	63,381,438	38,793,842	2.11	75.1
2058	projection	4,414,024,945	63,212,164	39,355,966	2.10	75.2
2059	projection	4,435,967,210	63,054,485	39,925,190	2.09	75.4
2060	projection	4,457,096,437	62,895,188	40,502,471	2.08	75.5
2061	projection	4,477,522,294	62,717,201	41,067,496	2.07	75.6
2062	projection	4,497,201,637	62,571,303	41,645,574	2.07	75.8
2063	projection	4,516,205,620	62,392,380	42,216,431	2.06	75.9
2064	projection	4,534,430,973	62,237,501	42,788,619	2.05	76.0
2065	projection	4,551,913,268	62,052,400	43,374,502	2.04	76.2
2066	projection	4,568,623,422	61,866,199	43,937,769	2.04	76.3
2067	projection	4,584,658,261	61,665,376	44,517,722	2.03	76.4
2068	projection	4,599,855,863	61,449,853	45,081,716	2.03	76.5
2069	projection	4,614,302,133	61,200,141	45,633,838	2.02	76.7
2070	projection	4,627,946,080	60,974,526	46,191,044	2.01	76.8
2071	projection	4,640,732,354	60,746,032	46,721,639	2.01	76.9
2072	projection	4,652,829,958	60,481,611	47,263,910	2.00	77.0
2073	projection	4,664,111,774	60,212,456	47,759,043	2.00	77.2
2074	projection	4,674,629,530	59,937,233	48,264,237	1.99	77.3
2075	projection	4,684,426,594	59,661,997	48,756,345	1.99	77.4
2076	projection	4,693,486,479	59,393,830	49,219,981	1.98	77.5
2077	projection	4,701,770,339	59,121,215	49,677,529	1.98	77.6
2078	projection	4,709,284,789	58,823,121	50,118,808	1.97	77.7
2079	projection	4,716,061,546	58,532,746	50,532,816	1.96	77.9
2080	projection	4,722,085,258	58,259,242	50,944,606	1.96	78.0
2081	projection	4,727,512,008	57,959,576	51,316,918	1.95	78.1
2082	projection	4,732,232,337	57,709,206	51,690,472	1.95	78.2
2083	projection	4,736,326,865	57,428,730	52,045,926	1.94	78.3
2084	projection	4,739,780,804	57,174,984	52,396,363	1.94	78.4
2085	projection	4,742,630,107	56,899,844	52,746,651	1.94	78.5
2086	projection	4,744,900,536	56,647,478	53,071,571	1.93	78.6
2087	projection	4,746,610,728	56,392,652	53,387,572	1.93	78.7
2088	projection	4,747,742,082	56,134,792	53,682,929	1.92	78.8
2089	projection	4,748,392,528	55,894,088	53,982,246	1.92	79.0
2090	projection	4,748,478,284	55,631,384	54,245,435	1.91	79.1
2091	projection	4,748,030,112	55,375,119	54,500,008	1.91	79.2
2092	projection	4,747,141,132	55,114,631	54,731,435	1.91	79.3
2093	projection	4,745,737,254	54,836,353	54,954,529	1.90	79.4
2094	projection	4,743,785,355	54,565,791	55,163,442	1.90	79.5
2095	projection	4,741,408,387	54,287,430	55,366,629	1.89	79.6
2096	projection	4,738,571,005	54,029,730	55,539,642	1.89	79.7
2097	projection	4,735,259,081	53,772,113	55,710,219	1.88	79.8
2098	projection	4,731,515,448	53,490,779	55,859,978	1.88	79.9
2099	projection	4,727,349,422	53,215,638	55,992,075	1.88	80.0
2100	projection	4,722,762,915	52,920,623	56,119,684	1.87	80.1

AGG · membership

What Lower-middle-income countries is

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

Lower-middle-income countries: population by single year of age, mid-2026
Age	Male	Female
0	33,142,200	31,574,000
1	32,854,400	31,305,500
2	32,709,700	31,139,500
3	32,546,300	30,949,100
4	32,374,300	30,748,000
5	32,267,500	30,607,500
6	32,405,200	30,713,000
7	32,688,300	30,975,100
8	32,820,400	31,082,700
9	32,989,200	31,210,300
10	33,139,400	31,319,000
11	33,030,000	31,187,200
12	33,060,500	31,188,900
13	33,220,800	31,292,700
14	33,098,700	31,123,300
15	32,817,300	30,820,700
16	32,587,500	30,604,000
17	32,236,600	30,306,700
18	31,705,200	29,858,800
19	31,194,900	29,448,300
20	30,758,300	29,098,400
21	30,394,400	28,816,700
22	30,059,500	28,581,000
23	29,689,600	28,310,300
24	29,333,500	28,017,600
25	28,939,900	27,660,300
26	28,393,500	27,168,800
27	27,841,700	26,682,700
28	27,443,300	26,330,200
29	27,154,300	26,074,800
30	26,897,600	25,842,700
31	26,615,800	25,590,100
32	26,298,700	25,317,700
33	26,012,100	25,073,600
34	25,756,400	24,839,400
35	25,464,800	24,570,500
36	25,124,900	24,278,900
37	24,760,600	23,940,300
38	24,374,900	23,592,900
39	24,043,500	23,330,700
40	23,648,000	22,981,100
41	23,161,500	22,514,800
42	22,614,800	21,969,900
43	21,933,400	21,289,800
44	21,236,800	20,591,000
45	20,540,300	19,906,900
46	19,795,500	19,215,200
47	19,035,400	18,523,800
48	18,337,000	17,897,200
49	17,758,400	17,398,200
50	17,176,900	16,901,000
51	16,584,900	16,380,500
52	16,012,500	15,881,300
53	15,448,500	15,391,600
54	14,946,900	14,954,100
55	14,459,700	14,500,600
56	13,959,700	14,037,900
57	13,403,600	13,574,700
58	12,841,100	13,075,600
59	12,330,500	12,607,200
60	11,872,800	12,205,100
61	11,459,300	11,830,900
62	11,016,800	11,433,600
63	10,535,900	10,997,200
64	10,010,600	10,541,200
65	9,488,890	10,083,900
66	8,993,240	9,649,360
67	8,465,360	9,175,380
68	7,949,140	8,686,920
69	7,435,350	8,212,580
70	6,907,060	7,723,110
71	6,397,610	7,245,060
72	5,869,770	6,736,680
73	5,342,650	6,225,350
74	4,833,670	5,719,460
75	4,351,170	5,224,830
76	3,901,680	4,754,400
77	3,342,720	4,136,860
78	2,864,390	3,632,140
79	2,525,650	3,273,140
80	2,183,300	2,863,620
81	1,886,800	2,526,890
82	1,613,850	2,209,000
83	1,380,570	1,941,770
84	1,179,440	1,717,220
85	994,384	1,495,080
86	833,236	1,300,620
87	689,251	1,115,980
88	562,721	944,388
89	445,528	771,138
90	343,211	608,004
91	259,212	469,620
92	192,971	358,559
93	143,148	276,657
94	104,530	210,250
95	73,680	151,184
96	51,136	109,038
97	34,743	77,986
98	22,608	52,246
99	14,391	34,652
100+	20,763	57,689

AGG · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

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 Lower-middle-income countries

On the UN's projection, Lower-middle-income countries will have the most working-age people it ever has in 2073: 2,947,320,000 people aged 15–64. In 2023 it had 2,096,360,000.

100 aged 15–64

46 children

9 aged 65+

aged 15–64 children under 15 aged 65 and over

How to read this: take 100 people of working age — the orange row — and the two rows under it are the children (teal) and the people of 65 and over (violet) who lived alongside them in 2023.

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 Lower-middle-income countries, and who leaves

In 2020–2025 Lower-middle-income countries loses 3,981,070 people a year: everyone who arrives, minus everyone who leaves. The age at which that happens most is 20–24, at 643,022 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: age runs left to right, babies to 100. A blue square above the line means arrivals outnumber departures at that age, an orange square below it means the opposite. The figures are the UN's projection for 2020–2025; nobody recorded migration by age before 2020.

In the years that were counted, 1950–2023, the most it gained in one year was 1,435,951 (1981) and the most it lost was 9,674,881 (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 Lower-middle-income countries

Of every 100 babies born in lower-middle-income countries in 2023, 9 had a mother under 20, 78 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
9 · 78 · 13

2050 · projected
7 · 78 · 15

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

How to read this: one block a year, 100 squares in each, a square for every hundredth baby. The colour is the mother's age group, and the three numbers underneath are those groups in order, youngest first.

Babies born, 2023: 66,393,543
Average age when women have a baby: 28.0 years; 28.6 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19: 41; 132 in 1950

Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100

Babies born in lower-middle-income countries by the mother's age
Mother's age	1950	1975	2000	2023	2050 projected	2100 projected
10–14	407,082	708,110	701,758	155,625	80,711	21,660
15–19	4,654,161	8,927,764	11,434,492	6,030,877	4,324,019	1,991,291
20–24	8,416,650	14,763,017	21,284,484	19,810,744	15,525,708	8,889,940
25–29	7,488,871	11,379,806	16,109,875	19,597,139	19,957,036	16,191,885
30–34	5,365,177	7,634,304	9,405,849	12,531,246	15,243,679	15,755,695
35–39	3,323,605	4,649,949	4,726,696	5,971,400	7,050,758	7,742,458
40–44	1,395,113	1,937,050	1,681,145	1,948,193	2,131,256	2,064,473
45–49	229,545	374,555	322,082	326,459	330,115	253,966
50–54	10,050	17,197	16,146	21,860	23,041	9,255
All babies	31,290,254	50,391,752	65,682,527	66,393,543	64,666,323	52,920,623

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.