Sub-region · UN WPP 2024

Southern Asia population

Southern Asia population now

2,111,420,196

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: 2,043,083,160

Year: 2026; projection · medium
Population, mid-2026: 2.10627 billion
Median age: 28.8
Aged 65+: 7.1%

Move through time, 1950–2100

2023 | 2024 peak 2072

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

Southern Asia in numbers

Southern Asia had 2,043,083,160 people in mid-2023, 25.2% of the world's people. That is 4.4 times its 1950 population of 464 million. It covers 9 countries and areas; the largest are India (70.4%), Pakistan (12.1%), Bangladesh (8.4%), Iran (4.4%) and Afghanistan (2.0%).

The UN's medium projection has it peaking in 2072 at 2.63 billion, then falling to 2.49 billion by 2100.

In the medium projection, deaths outnumber births every year from 2075 on.

The median age was 20.6 in 1950 and 27.8 in 2023; the projection has 45.9 in 2100. 6.5% of people were 65 or older in 2023, against 26.7% projected for 2100. The working-age population (15–64) is projected to peak in 2056 at 1.68 billion.

Population, mid-2023: 2,043,083,160
Share of the world, 2023: 25.2%
Change in a year, mid-2022 to mid-2023: +1.02% · +20,615,872 people
Births, 2023: 37,148,142
Deaths, 2023: 13,004,391
Net migration, 2023: −3,375,946
Children per woman, 2023: 2.22
Median age, 2023: 27.8 years
Life expectancy at birth, 2023: 71.7 years
Population, mid-1950: 464,073,744
Projected, mid-2050: 2,505,837,296
Projected, mid-2100: 2,489,357,114

AGG · 1950–2100 · total population

Population, 1950–2100

peak 2072estimates | projections0500 m1 bn1.5 bn2 bn2.5 bn3 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: Southern Asia, 1950–2100

Southern 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	459,233,664	20,749,203	11,122,530	5.92	39.9
1951	estimate	468,913,825	21,265,418	11,214,214	5.96	40.4
1952	estimate	479,194,540	21,825,653	11,270,368	6.00	41.0
1953	estimate	489,990,314	22,385,856	11,381,198	6.04	41.4
1954	estimate	500,922,929	22,936,431	11,316,472	6.07	42.3
1955	estimate	512,682,681	23,411,123	11,351,795	6.08	42.8
1956	estimate	524,821,476	23,877,369	11,417,264	6.09	43.3
1957	estimate	537,447,702	24,349,046	11,500,119	6.10	43.7
1958	estimate	549,850,144	24,749,668	11,549,948	6.10	44.1
1959	estimate	563,224,497	25,195,475	11,571,125	6.10	44.7
1960	estimate	576,994,650	25,750,270	11,664,187	6.13	45.0
1961	estimate	591,273,563	26,260,946	11,771,529	6.14	45.4
1962	estimate	606,082,400	26,785,586	11,865,869	6.15	45.8
1963	estimate	620,979,566	27,287,599	11,964,491	6.16	46.2
1964	estimate	636,385,396	27,808,045	12,039,034	6.16	46.6
1965	estimate	652,091,775	28,221,684	12,715,528	6.13	45.8
1966	estimate	667,468,903	28,612,415	12,711,376	6.08	46.3
1967	estimate	682,841,797	29,061,479	12,783,165	6.04	46.7
1968	estimate	699,093,971	29,512,186	12,352,206	5.99	48.1
1969	estimate	715,259,477	29,915,269	12,422,131	5.93	48.5
1970	estimate	731,790,876	30,414,919	12,820,980	5.88	48.2
1971	estimate	749,569,434	31,041,638	14,348,596	5.82	45.7
1972	estimate	765,482,566	31,574,731	12,702,846	5.75	49.6
1973	estimate	783,999,964	32,173,484	12,785,258	5.68	50.0
1974	estimate	802,920,944	32,763,621	12,831,689	5.62	50.5
1975	estimate	822,935,974	33,147,392	12,821,416	5.51	51.1
1976	estimate	843,325,256	33,900,389	12,859,750	5.46	51.6
1977	estimate	864,144,769	34,303,488	12,881,903	5.37	52.1
1978	estimate	885,727,725	34,891,197	12,916,972	5.28	52.6
1979	estimate	907,021,203	35,690,870	12,907,731	5.22	53.2
1980	estimate	930,015,077	36,620,753	12,951,676	5.19	53.7
1981	estimate	953,329,765	37,314,112	13,002,533	5.12	54.2
1982	estimate	977,405,237	37,929,719	13,016,941	5.04	54.8
1983	estimate	1,001,998,995	38,509,694	13,009,584	4.97	55.3
1984	estimate	1,027,236,134	39,165,397	13,054,811	4.91	55.8
1985	estimate	1,052,851,175	39,553,821	13,071,786	4.82	56.2
1986	estimate	1,078,869,727	40,131,722	12,989,479	4.76	56.8
1987	estimate	1,105,368,419	40,236,168	12,978,085	4.66	57.3
1988	estimate	1,131,919,923	40,474,425	12,924,023	4.55	57.7
1989	estimate	1,158,809,840	40,702,007	12,876,628	4.46	58.2
1990	estimate	1,186,163,454	40,779,119	12,890,317	4.36	58.5
1991	estimate	1,213,593,237	40,862,601	12,977,740	4.25	58.8
1992	estimate	1,241,095,492	40,851,318	12,793,052	4.14	59.4
1993	estimate	1,269,075,256	40,821,078	12,757,855	4.04	59.8
1994	estimate	1,296,171,170	40,926,642	12,739,568	3.95	60.2
1995	estimate	1,323,478,817	40,941,548	12,725,291	3.85	60.5
1996	estimate	1,351,259,610	40,974,320	12,695,832	3.77	61.0
1997	estimate	1,379,141,000	41,106,691	12,673,648	3.69	61.4
1998	estimate	1,407,357,862	41,271,792	12,639,296	3.61	61.8
1999	estimate	1,435,858,416	41,529,039	12,584,392	3.55	62.3
2000	estimate	1,464,466,304	41,984,693	12,541,691	3.50	62.8
2001	estimate	1,492,760,884	42,219,329	12,519,316	3.43	63.2
2002	estimate	1,521,551,670	42,009,748	12,449,973	3.33	63.7
2003	estimate	1,548,841,889	41,710,959	12,427,587	3.24	64.1
2004	estimate	1,577,078,969	41,411,234	12,413,503	3.15	64.5
2005	estimate	1,605,028,144	40,955,375	12,399,107	3.07	64.9
2006	estimate	1,632,117,095	40,707,629	12,303,976	3.00	65.5
2007	estimate	1,659,256,666	40,530,995	12,305,724	2.92	65.8
2008	estimate	1,684,653,705	40,544,670	12,296,118	2.86	66.2
2009	estimate	1,710,432,499	40,684,828	12,324,256	2.82	66.6
2010	estimate	1,736,908,819	40,431,724	12,288,022	2.75	67.1
2011	estimate	1,762,913,159	40,247,253	12,273,347	2.69	67.5
2012	estimate	1,788,786,829	40,079,240	12,278,434	2.64	67.9
2013	estimate	1,813,514,796	39,713,775	12,295,609	2.59	68.3
2014	estimate	1,837,579,575	38,793,685	12,304,778	2.51	68.7
2015	estimate	1,860,756,259	38,920,037	12,378,366	2.50	69.1
2016	estimate	1,882,987,855	38,947,218	12,438,253	2.49	69.5
2017	estimate	1,905,942,836	38,206,164	12,521,316	2.42	69.8
2018	estimate	1,928,346,372	38,324,522	12,634,734	2.40	70.1
2019	estimate	1,950,729,151	37,775,996	12,742,981	2.35	70.4
2020	estimate	1,972,729,257	37,176,538	14,083,788	2.29	69.7
2021	estimate	1,994,291,530	37,130,648	17,173,860	2.26	67.4
2022	estimate	2,012,235,325	37,208,299	12,864,924	2.24	71.4
2023	estimate	2,032,699,250	37,148,142	13,004,391	2.22	71.7
2024	estimate	2,053,467,070	37,086,077	13,116,688	2.20	72.0
2025	projection	2,074,645,912	36,942,515	13,330,832	2.18	72.2
2026	projection	2,095,769,521	36,828,005	13,558,332	2.16	72.4
2027	projection	2,116,771,347	36,703,859	13,782,614	2.15	72.6
2028	projection	2,137,703,943	36,583,188	14,032,686	2.13	72.8
2029	projection	2,158,504,298	36,486,913	14,270,226	2.12	73.1
2030	projection	2,179,082,253	36,405,470	14,519,293	2.11	73.3
2031	projection	2,199,435,513	36,281,078	14,781,266	2.09	73.5
2032	projection	2,219,445,559	36,130,240	15,040,577	2.08	73.7
2033	projection	2,239,049,309	35,996,858	15,308,328	2.07	73.9
2034	projection	2,258,294,261	35,859,812	15,574,992	2.06	74.1
2035	projection	2,277,031,223	35,707,811	15,856,530	2.05	74.3
2036	projection	2,295,337,647	35,522,358	16,138,682	2.04	74.5
2037	projection	2,313,245,225	35,321,250	16,440,872	2.03	74.7
2038	projection	2,330,608,958	35,087,617	16,728,588	2.02	74.9
2039	projection	2,347,467,212	34,864,638	17,016,532	2.01	75.1
2040	projection	2,363,877,047	34,693,844	17,303,164	2.01	75.3
2041	projection	2,379,807,903	34,463,028	17,611,215	2.00	75.4
2042	projection	2,395,234,375	34,232,724	17,914,558	1.99	75.6
2043	projection	2,410,059,555	34,016,744	18,217,695	1.99	75.8
2044	projection	2,424,426,827	33,818,310	18,517,647	1.98	76.0
2045	projection	2,438,294,021	33,612,923	18,828,152	1.98	76.2
2046	projection	2,451,703,653	33,427,436	19,129,979	1.97	76.3
2047	projection	2,464,685,805	33,214,421	19,445,946	1.96	76.5
2048	projection	2,477,043,409	33,036,996	19,761,242	1.96	76.7
2049	projection	2,488,906,375	32,859,937	20,076,286	1.95	76.9
2050	projection	2,500,385,216	32,700,482	20,398,119	1.95	77.0
2051	projection	2,511,289,375	32,548,498	20,716,720	1.94	77.2
2052	projection	2,521,651,859	32,376,733	21,041,053	1.94	77.4
2053	projection	2,531,646,246	32,249,174	21,372,948	1.93	77.6
2054	projection	2,541,197,935	32,085,771	21,714,883	1.93	77.7
2055	projection	2,550,226,117	31,960,397	22,043,139	1.92	77.9
2056	projection	2,558,854,883	31,846,719	22,376,392	1.92	78.0
2057	projection	2,567,052,719	31,704,478	22,705,913	1.91	78.2
2058	projection	2,574,786,560	31,541,793	23,043,343	1.91	78.4
2059	projection	2,581,977,424	31,387,479	23,386,432	1.90	78.5
2060	projection	2,588,556,337	31,229,297	23,735,599	1.90	78.7
2061	projection	2,594,707,415	31,047,855	24,075,295	1.89	78.8
2062	projection	2,600,261,753	30,906,869	24,423,686	1.89	79.0
2063	projection	2,605,475,494	30,741,242	24,764,787	1.88	79.2
2064	projection	2,610,136,884	30,587,066	25,108,755	1.88	79.3
2065	projection	2,614,356,293	30,414,297	25,465,746	1.88	79.5
2066	projection	2,618,043,214	30,241,592	25,797,248	1.87	79.6
2067	projection	2,621,180,905	30,045,299	26,148,690	1.87	79.8
2068	projection	2,623,767,156	29,850,097	26,488,498	1.86	79.9
2069	projection	2,625,926,522	29,636,373	26,813,531	1.86	80.0
2070	projection	2,627,502,882	29,458,395	27,146,625	1.86	80.2
2071	projection	2,628,618,946	29,282,752	27,462,409	1.85	80.3
2072	projection	2,629,106,550	29,078,066	27,784,295	1.85	80.5
2073	projection	2,629,137,837	28,883,141	28,061,198	1.85	80.6
2074	projection	2,628,780,989	28,693,233	28,350,744	1.84	80.8
2075	projection	2,627,876,325	28,506,157	28,634,228	1.84	80.9
2076	projection	2,626,420,126	28,327,869	28,890,331	1.84	81.0
2077	projection	2,624,574,663	28,157,513	29,137,940	1.83	81.2
2078	projection	2,622,298,738	27,960,643	29,377,881	1.83	81.3
2079	projection	2,619,497,841	27,775,908	29,591,630	1.83	81.4
2080	projection	2,616,439,681	27,619,916	29,800,627	1.82	81.6
2081	projection	2,612,973,299	27,429,691	29,978,808	1.82	81.7
2082	projection	2,608,999,656	27,271,787	30,156,187	1.82	81.8
2083	projection	2,604,756,918	27,097,257	30,321,788	1.82	82.0
2084	projection	2,600,129,433	26,940,534	30,476,493	1.81	82.1
2085	projection	2,595,335,181	26,775,478	30,632,605	1.81	82.2
2086	projection	2,590,136,381	26,625,931	30,766,949	1.81	82.3
2087	projection	2,584,552,226	26,463,314	30,890,886	1.81	82.5
2088	projection	2,578,849,126	26,311,077	31,004,918	1.80	82.6
2089	projection	2,572,860,005	26,158,939	31,118,147	1.80	82.7
2090	projection	2,566,574,608	26,000,387	31,193,643	1.80	82.8
2091	projection	2,560,162,091	25,841,290	31,264,303	1.80	82.9
2092	projection	2,553,480,599	25,683,732	31,311,332	1.79	83.1
2093	projection	2,546,637,776	25,501,336	31,350,675	1.79	83.2
2094	projection	2,539,565,563	25,324,237	31,382,079	1.79	83.3
2095	projection	2,532,312,388	25,143,688	31,405,288	1.78	83.4
2096	projection	2,524,838,429	24,984,741	31,403,874	1.78	83.5
2097	projection	2,517,210,912	24,826,168	31,403,257	1.78	83.7
2098	projection	2,509,428,504	24,645,238	31,381,293	1.78	83.8
2099	projection	2,501,480,732	24,486,065	31,354,455	1.78	83.9
2100	projection	2,493,458,479	24,302,900	31,326,356	1.77	84.0

AGG · members

Countries and areas in Southern Asia

Southern 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	India	1,438,069,596	70.4%	1,505,251,760
2	Pakistan	247,504,496	12.1%	511,000,618
3	Bangladesh	171,466,990	8.4%	208,596,516
4	Iran	90,608,707	4.4%	80,045,291
5	Afghanistan	41,454,761	2.0%	130,216,738
6	Nepal	29,694,614	1.5%	31,831,434
7	Sri Lanka	22,971,617	1.1%	21,249,406
8	Bhutan	786,385	0.04%	690,432
9	Maldives	525,994	0.03%	474,919

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

Southern Asia: population by single year of age, mid-2026
Age	Male	Female
0	18,522,700	17,493,500
1	18,459,600	17,417,100
2	18,447,700	17,377,400
3	18,431,600	17,333,900
4	18,392,100	17,269,800
5	18,356,500	17,208,500
6	18,483,600	17,294,800
7	18,737,300	17,497,300
8	18,816,100	17,538,500
9	18,936,000	17,615,600
10	19,079,100	17,712,600
11	19,018,500	17,627,000
12	19,186,800	17,759,200
13	19,482,800	17,999,300
14	19,605,200	18,069,000
15	19,661,400	18,088,600
16	19,682,000	18,107,300
17	19,575,600	18,036,200
18	19,370,400	17,888,600
19	19,228,200	17,813,200
20	19,153,700	17,792,100
21	19,120,900	17,807,100
22	19,084,800	17,838,200
23	19,015,700	17,845,800
24	18,933,500	17,813,500
25	18,748,800	17,657,600
26	18,440,500	17,393,900
27	18,154,400	17,150,000
28	17,941,700	16,965,200
29	17,769,800	16,812,400
30	17,612,600	16,663,100
31	17,428,500	16,500,700
32	17,199,700	16,312,000
33	16,972,300	16,122,400
34	16,771,900	15,944,200
35	16,544,300	15,740,600
36	16,328,900	15,559,400
37	16,140,500	15,388,800
38	15,922,600	15,197,100
39	15,755,100	15,069,600
40	15,519,300	14,865,500
41	15,195,100	14,555,500
42	14,835,500	14,195,400
43	14,396,200	13,750,900
44	13,988,800	13,325,200
45	13,559,500	12,893,900
46	13,038,700	12,413,400
47	12,523,100	11,951,900
48	12,094,800	11,577,300
49	11,754,200	11,298,600
50	11,387,700	11,003,400
51	11,019,200	10,703,700
52	10,689,300	10,432,600
53	10,324,200	10,115,700
54	9,987,310	9,816,100
55	9,641,340	9,506,200
56	9,278,600	9,180,460
57	8,956,940	8,895,590
58	8,620,870	8,592,180
59	8,280,580	8,277,620
60	7,959,810	7,978,640
61	7,664,300	7,700,540
62	7,384,580	7,438,110
63	7,086,350	7,160,910
64	6,780,710	6,879,680
65	6,462,860	6,587,270
66	6,128,180	6,278,680
67	5,799,220	5,978,190
68	5,479,000	5,686,740
69	5,150,690	5,385,910
70	4,815,880	5,084,510
71	4,476,050	4,783,520
72	4,128,280	4,467,720
73	3,777,760	4,139,360
74	3,430,180	3,807,370
75	3,094,350	3,475,340
76	2,773,260	3,142,920
77	2,385,210	2,742,540
78	2,046,600	2,412,870
79	1,821,630	2,191,770
80	1,605,610	1,956,090
81	1,398,070	1,727,200
82	1,206,020	1,514,490
83	1,032,100	1,320,700
84	877,023	1,146,030
85	739,844	989,258
86	619,580	849,448
87	514,848	725,513
88	421,313	609,746
89	336,644	498,765
90	262,950	397,907
91	202,240	311,973
92	153,142	240,229
93	113,698	180,493
94	82,792	132,347
95	59,019	94,743
96	41,107	66,227
97	27,937	45,089
98	18,474	29,813
99	11,844	19,144
100+	17,352	29,428

AGG · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

Southern 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 Southern Asia

On the UN's projection, Southern Asia will have the most working-age people it ever has in 2056: 1,679,580,000 people aged 15–64. In 2023 it had 1,356,310,000.

100 aged 15–64

41 children

10 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.

Fewer than 50 dependants live alongside every 100 people aged 15–64 in 26 years: 2025–2050.

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

How to read this: the strip runs 1950 to 2100. Coloured years are the ones with under 50 dependants for every 100 people aged 15–64; grey years are the rest, and a hatched year has not happened yet.

How every country compares

AGG · arrivals minus departures

Who arrives in Southern Asia, and who leaves

In 2020–2025 Southern Asia loses 2,813,639 people a year: everyone who arrives, minus everyone who leaves. The age at which that happens most is 20–24, at 594,153 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.

Its best and worst years between 1950 and 2023: a gain of 319,406 (1961), and a loss of 4,310,108 (2015).

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 Southern Asia

Of every 100 babies born in Southern Asia in 2023, 6 had a mother under 20, 84 a mother aged 20 to 34 and 10 a mother aged 35 or older. In 1950 it was 18 under 20 and 14 aged 35 or older.

1950
18 · 68 · 14

2023
6 · 84 · 10

2050 · projected
3 · 84 · 13

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: 37,148,142
Average age when women have a baby: 27.7 years; 28.2 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19: 26; 151 in 1950

Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100

Babies born in Southern Asia by the mother's age
Mother's age	1950	1975	2000	2023	2050 projected	2100 projected
10–14	289,617	529,616	494,696	35,370	4,208	981
15–19	3,470,237	6,619,321	8,254,055	2,348,641	1,003,808	373,787
20–24	5,724,303	10,048,000	14,570,792	12,055,712	7,385,871	3,393,567
25–29	4,857,351	7,305,937	10,158,950	12,156,642	11,408,818	7,851,804
30–34	3,442,091	4,785,404	5,268,718	6,893,487	8,503,440	8,042,119
35–39	2,031,509	2,681,589	2,343,718	2,704,022	3,228,982	3,567,326
40–44	810,632	977,298	752,430	814,763	995,492	954,345
45–49	118,678	191,390	134,308	126,108	154,272	113,981
50–54	4,785	8,837	7,026	13,397	15,591	4,990
All babies	20,749,203	33,147,392	41,984,693	37,148,142	32,700,482	24,302,900

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 9 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.