Country or area · Western Asia · Asia · UN WPP 2024

Syria population

UN name: Syrian Arab Republic

Syria population now

26,669,904

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: 24.8–28.9 million.

Mid-2023, UN estimate: 23,594,623

Year: 2026; projection · medium
Population, mid-2026: 26.4725 million; 95% range, 31 Dec: 24.8–28.9 million
Median age: 24.8
Aged 65+: 5.0%

Move through time, 1950–2100

2023 | 2024 peak 2086

male female projection · one cell = 5,000 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

SYR · 1950–2100 · in brief

Syria in numbers

The UN counts 23,594,623 people in Syria in mid-2023, which makes it the 58th-largest population of the 236 countries and areas the UN reports, and 0.29% of the world's people. That is 6.5 times its 1950 population of 3.6 million.

The UN's medium projection has it peaking in 2086 at 44.1 million, then falling to 43.7 million by 2100. The projection is uncertain: on 1 January 2100 the UN's 95% range runs from 12.3 million to 158 million.

Births stay ahead of deaths until 2087; in the medium projection, deaths are ahead every year after it.

The median age was 20.2 in 1950 and 23.3 in 2023; the projection has 44.3 in 2100. 4.7% of people were 65 or older in 2023, against 24.9% projected for 2100. The working-age population (15–64) is projected to peak in 2061 at 27.8 million.

Its place in the world by population: 58th in 2023, 54th in 2050, 52nd in 2100. In the medium projection it overtakes Mali in 2024, North Korea in 2027 and Australia in 2028. It is overtaken by Chad in 2048, Zambia in 2050 and Malawi in 2052.

Population, mid-2023: 23,594,623
Rank by population, 2023: 58 of 236
Share of the world, 2023: 0.29%
Change in a year, mid-2022 to mid-2023: +5.04% · +1,132,451 people
People per km² of land, 2023: 128
Land area, 2023: 183,630 km²
Births, 2023: 521,601
Deaths, 2023: 118,900
Net migration, 2023: +757,309
Children per woman, 2023: 2.71
Median age, 2023: 23.3 years
Life expectancy at birth, 2023: 72.1 years
In a city, 2025: 49 of every 100
Population, mid-1950: 3,612,080
Projected, mid-2050: 37,793,372
Projected, mid-2100: 43,686,646

SYR · 1950–2100 · total population

Population, 1950–2100

peak 2086estimates | projections050 m100 m150 m200 m1950197520002025205020752100

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: Syria, 1950–2100

Syria: 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	3,577,704		164,865	96,112	7.62	42.5
1951	estimate	3,646,457		170,526	93,704	7.63	43.5
1952	estimate	3,723,273		176,123	92,192	7.63	44.3
1953	estimate	3,807,213		181,737	90,505	7.63	45.3
1954	estimate	3,898,446		187,658	88,807	7.63	46.4
1955	estimate	3,997,295		193,683	87,094	7.63	47.4
1956	estimate	4,103,883		198,668	85,179	7.59	48.5
1957	estimate	4,217,382		203,963	83,239	7.56	49.6
1958	estimate	4,338,099		209,004	81,213	7.51	50.7
1959	estimate	4,465,886		215,132	79,369	7.51	51.7
1960	estimate	4,601,653		221,446	77,756	7.50	52.7
1961	estimate	4,745,347		227,818	76,334	7.50	53.6
1962	estimate	4,885,584		233,966	74,811	7.51	54.6
1963	estimate	5,033,096		240,101	73,543	7.51	55.4
1964	estimate	5,187,838		246,966	72,421	7.53	56.2
1965	estimate	5,350,337		253,995	71,433	7.53	56.9
1966	estimate	5,520,197		261,754	70,627	7.55	57.5
1967	estimate	5,697,896		269,396	70,173	7.56	58.0
1968	estimate	5,882,500		277,830	68,380	7.57	59.1
1969	estimate	6,074,983		286,505	67,389	7.59	59.8
1970	estimate	6,275,348		296,415	66,303	7.62	60.6
1971	estimate	6,485,870		304,873	65,260	7.60	61.3
1972	estimate	6,710,318		313,553	64,524	7.57	62.0
1973	estimate	6,941,729		322,881	68,196	7.55	60.8
1974	estimate	7,178,913		333,078	62,345	7.52	63.4
1975	estimate	7,425,407		343,538	61,237	7.49	64.2
1976	estimate	7,683,322		354,690	60,417	7.45	64.8
1977	estimate	7,951,319		366,532	59,900	7.42	65.4
1978	estimate	8,229,683		376,027	59,302	7.34	65.9
1979	estimate	8,515,835		384,261	59,320	7.25	66.2
1980	estimate	8,807,984		391,785	59,314	7.12	66.5
1981	estimate	9,107,341		397,883	67,649	6.97	64.6
1982	estimate	9,413,037		403,771	84,103	6.81	60.8
1983	estimate	9,731,985		414,734	59,355	6.69	67.3
1984	estimate	10,077,634		426,163	59,393	6.59	67.7
1985	estimate	10,439,163		438,902	59,671	6.48	68.0
1986	estimate	10,812,180		450,618	59,798	6.37	68.4
1987	estimate	11,193,507		458,974	59,812	6.20	68.8
1988	estimate	11,584,339		464,056	59,774	6.00	69.2
1989	estimate	11,980,189		466,013	59,891	5.78	69.5
1990	estimate	12,377,931		469,089	59,918	5.56	69.8
1991	estimate	12,780,484		471,185	60,356	5.34	70.1
1992	estimate	13,181,158		474,037	61,154	5.14	70.2
1993	estimate	13,589,984		482,812	62,570	4.99	70.3
1994	estimate	14,001,389		491,410	64,402	4.86	70.3
1995	estimate	14,415,776		496,767	66,591	4.70	70.2
1996	estimate	14,817,826		499,393	68,640	4.54	70.2
1997	estimate	15,218,383		500,362	70,469	4.37	70.2
1998	estimate	15,616,702		505,486	72,046	4.25	70.2
1999	estimate	16,024,124		511,962	72,698	4.14	70.5
2000	estimate	16,431,999		519,171	72,961	4.07	70.9
2001	estimate	16,843,777		524,230	72,717	3.98	71.3
2002	estimate	17,258,898		526,366	72,406	3.87	71.7
2003	estimate	17,677,765		529,103	72,120	3.76	72.2
2004	estimate	18,100,826		533,907	72,697	3.68	72.5
2005	estimate	18,572,923		542,371	73,418	3.60	72.8
2006	estimate	19,055,259		555,206	74,590	3.56	73.0
2007	estimate	20,218,786		607,186	78,022	3.54	73.3
2008	estimate	21,549,465		659,145	82,545	3.48	73.4
2009	estimate	21,723,663		642,799	83,496	3.42	73.5
2010	estimate	22,230,276		644,639	85,980	3.35	73.5
2011	estimate	22,734,565		643,104	99,152	3.29	72.3
2012	estimate	23,021,631		630,948	155,417	3.22	66.2
2013	estimate	22,497,894		582,156	162,813	3.17	65.2
2014	estimate	20,835,941		482,189	149,075	3.12	65.5
2015	estimate	19,711,377		413,713	159,731	3.07	63.3
2016	estimate	19,137,859		376,564	140,555	3.01	65.2
2017	estimate	19,249,808		376,524	139,301	2.97	65.7
2018	estimate	19,199,528		370,649	128,118	2.93	67.4
2019	estimate	19,956,162		401,308	107,552	2.88	71.0
2020	estimate	20,750,906		434,463	106,459	2.84	71.9
2021	estimate	21,347,952		457,916	107,361	2.80	72.4
2022	estimate	21,909,727		476,966	107,220	2.75	72.8
2023	estimate	23,014,618		521,601	118,900	2.71	72.1
2024	estimate	24,174,628		571,460	121,694	2.70	72.6
2025	projection	25,170,891	24.6–25.8 million	601,433	124,051	2.66	73.0
2026	projection	26,069,962	24.7–27.3 million	625,121	125,882	2.62	73.4
2027	projection	26,875,032	24.8–28.9 million	643,665	130,215	2.58	73.6
2028	projection	27,648,045	24.9–30.8 million	659,064	134,483	2.54	73.7
2029	projection	28,365,057	24.9–32.5 million	669,987	138,565	2.51	73.9
2030	projection	29,073,552	24.9–34.2 million	678,795	142,564	2.48	74.0
2031	projection	29,717,528	24.7–36.0 million	682,445	146,585	2.45	74.2
2032	projection	30,342,106	24.7–37.8 million	681,916	150,412	2.42	74.3
2033	projection	30,925,196	24.7–39.6 million	676,016	154,259	2.39	74.5
2034	projection	31,499,744	24.8–41.4 million	667,288	158,160	2.36	74.7
2035	projection	32,036,518	24.6–43.2 million	655,247	162,106	2.33	74.8
2036	projection	32,553,069	24.3–45.0 million	641,484	166,153	2.31	75.0
2037	projection	33,023,220	24.1–46.4 million	627,415	170,188	2.29	75.1
2038	projection	33,493,586	24.0–47.9 million	612,819	174,323	2.26	75.3
2039	projection	33,927,843	23.8–49.7 million	598,459	178,436	2.24	75.4
2040	projection	34,334,623	23.6–51.9 million	584,133	182,613	2.23	75.6
2041	projection	34,731,747	23.5–53.6 million	570,890	186,949	2.21	75.7
2042	projection	35,102,120	23.5–54.9 million	558,171	191,323	2.18	75.9
2043	projection	35,457,601	23.4–56.6 million	548,137	196,039	2.16	76.0
2044	projection	35,789,056	23.1–58.5 million	539,823	200,663	2.14	76.2
2045	projection	36,099,724	22.9–60.5 million	534,166	205,449	2.13	76.3
2046	projection	36,430,848	22.8–62.0 million	531,503	210,339	2.11	76.5
2047	projection	36,735,677	22.7–63.2 million	530,855	215,255	2.10	76.6
2048	projection	37,021,598	22.3–65.0 million	531,597	220,368	2.08	76.7
2049	projection	37,320,446	21.9–66.5 million	534,774	225,646	2.07	76.9
2050	projection	37,634,934	21.9–68.5 million	539,175	231,062	2.06	77.0
2051	projection	37,951,809	21.8–69.7 million	544,739	236,328	2.04	77.2
2052	projection	38,256,962	21.9–71.9 million	551,048	241,618	2.03	77.3
2053	projection	38,553,602	21.5–73.5 million	557,371	247,059	2.02	77.5
2054	projection	38,890,073	21.5–74.0 million	564,876	252,486	2.00	77.6
2055	projection	39,218,513	21.1–76.4 million	571,581	258,132	2.00	77.8
2056	projection	39,518,282	20.8–78.7 million	576,229	263,596	1.98	77.9
2057	projection	39,822,880	20.6–80.0 million	579,866	269,297	1.97	78.0
2058	projection	40,099,456	20.4–82.0 million	581,908	274,891	1.97	78.2
2059	projection	40,376,838	20.4–84.6 million	582,233	280,578	1.96	78.3
2060	projection	40,683,958	19.9–87.2 million	582,363	286,365	1.95	78.5
2061	projection	40,963,996	19.5–90.5 million	579,937	292,123	1.94	78.6
2062	projection	41,212,977	19.5–92.0 million	575,590	297,921	1.93	78.7
2063	projection	41,457,649	19.3–95.1 million	569,739	303,692	1.92	78.9
2064	projection	41,700,296	19.3–97.8 million	563,178	309,676	1.92	79.0
2065	projection	41,946,119	18.9–99.9 million	555,842	315,958	1.91	79.2
2066	projection	42,191,375	18.6–102.4 million	548,653	322,094	1.90	79.3
2067	projection	42,397,548	18.5–103.8 million	540,895	328,365	1.90	79.5
2068	projection	42,587,895	18.5–104.1 million	531,909	335,051	1.89	79.6
2069	projection	42,766,894	17.9–107.0 million	523,463	341,825	1.88	79.8
2070	projection	42,911,778	17.7–107.5 million	514,396	348,753	1.87	79.9
2071	projection	43,052,723	17.3–109.3 million	506,874	355,754	1.87	80.0
2072	projection	43,194,221	16.8–111.0 million	500,281	362,776	1.86	80.2
2073	projection	43,328,214	16.5–110.9 million	495,044	369,782	1.86	80.3
2074	projection	43,433,817	16.0–112.4 million	489,342	377,304	1.85	80.5
2075	projection	43,529,474	16.0–114.1 million	484,704	385,204	1.85	80.6
2076	projection	43,621,291	16.0–116.9 million	481,204	393,243	1.84	80.8
2077	projection	43,703,637	16.0–118.9 million	479,107	401,456	1.84	80.9
2078	projection	43,748,302	15.9–119.8 million	476,767	409,971	1.83	81.1
2079	projection	43,785,153	15.8–123.4 million	474,960	418,325	1.83	81.2
2080	projection	43,841,343	15.4–126.0 million	474,672	426,856	1.82	81.3
2081	projection	43,938,530	15.0–128.0 million	476,097	435,594	1.82	81.5
2082	projection	44,004,129	14.8–128.5 million	477,120	444,152	1.81	81.6
2083	projection	44,063,644	14.7–130.0 million	478,536	452,425	1.81	81.8
2084	projection	44,091,401	14.6–130.5 million	478,940	460,330	1.80	81.9
2085	projection	44,125,614	14.3–132.7 million	479,530	467,852	1.80	82.0
2086	projection	44,159,007	14.0–134.7 million	479,859	474,759	1.79	82.2
2087	projection	44,139,987	13.9–136.0 million	479,020	480,936	1.79	82.3
2088	projection	44,132,489	13.8–137.8 million	479,041	486,530	1.79	82.4
2089	projection	44,137,622	13.5–140.2 million	478,236	490,883	1.79	82.6
2090	projection	44,138,583	13.3–139.7 million	476,568	494,977	1.78	82.7
2091	projection	44,107,616	13.2–139.5 million	474,086	497,618	1.78	82.8
2092	projection	44,095,189	12.8–141.9 million	470,869	499,475	1.78	83.0
2093	projection	44,066,300	12.7–145.5 million	467,361	500,353	1.77	83.1
2094	projection	44,037,807	12.5–145.3 million	462,858	500,230	1.77	83.2
2095	projection	43,989,070	12.8–146.7 million	458,526	499,343	1.77	83.4
2096	projection	43,961,881	12.7–148.8 million	454,015	497,920	1.76	83.5
2097	projection	43,908,391	12.6–150.4 million	448,866	495,892	1.76	83.6
2098	projection	43,846,762	12.4–151.4 million	443,647	493,158	1.76	83.7
2099	projection	43,787,984	12.3–154.4 million	439,046	490,258	1.76	83.9
2100	projection	43,719,231	12.3–158.1 million	434,129	487,840	1.76	84.0

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

Syria: population by single year of age, mid-2026
Age	Male	Female
0	314,618	299,917
1	305,860	291,471
2	290,559	276,922
3	270,713	258,289
4	255,997	244,429
5	244,498	233,516
6	230,645	220,383
7	215,610	206,198
8	206,824	197,837
9	203,556	194,584
10	206,400	197,086
11	221,673	211,277
12	248,946	236,780
13	275,322	261,609
14	289,788	275,448
15	297,590	283,162
16	303,168	288,966
17	311,798	297,842
18	312,576	299,590
19	301,281	290,092
20	295,992	286,224
21	298,294	289,530
22	301,926	294,040
23	305,620	298,417
24	307,619	300,854
25	305,500	298,858
26	297,770	290,979
27	285,202	278,124
28	269,337	261,881
29	252,250	244,380
30	234,769	226,536
31	216,816	208,338
32	199,245	190,752
33	183,462	175,240
34	171,938	164,313
35	164,880	158,118
36	160,432	154,660
37	157,874	153,589
38	156,062	153,670
39	153,668	153,064
40	150,297	151,248
41	146,232	148,401
42	142,300	145,405
43	138,236	142,164
44	134,906	139,678
45	132,717	138,219
46	130,188	136,192
47	127,154	133,502
48	123,734	130,274
49	119,508	126,294
50	114,888	122,012
51	110,565	118,014
52	106,426	114,226
53	102,500	110,652
54	98,814	107,340
55	95,270	104,102
56	91,469	100,464
57	87,500	96,687
58	83,808	93,051
59	80,018	89,248
60	75,816	85,220
61	71,581	81,157
62	67,530	77,210
63	63,650	73,407
64	59,893	69,718
65	56,195	65,970
66	52,571	62,198
67	49,086	58,539
68	45,877	55,110
69	42,821	51,803
70	39,686	48,526
71	36,420	45,190
72	33,203	41,783
73	30,180	38,468
74	27,318	35,225
75	24,580	32,031
76	21,418	28,421
77	20,110	25,723
78	18,545	23,075
79	15,389	19,685
80	12,776	16,684
81	10,706	14,424
82	8,990	12,488
83	7,460	10,810
84	6,048	9,294
85	4,836	7,658
86	3,840	6,359
87	2,986	5,430
88	2,241	4,422
89	1,639	3,418
90	1,168	2,591
91	823	1,968
92	584	1,506
93	408	1,118
94	270	785
95	168	523
96	100	330
97	56	200
98	31	117
99	16	65
100+	14	68

SYR · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

Syria, 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.

SYR · ages 15–64

Who does the work in Syria

On the UN's projection, Syria will have the most working-age people it ever has in 2061: 27,844,300 people aged 15–64. In 2023 it had 15,331,200.

100 aged 15–64

47 children

7 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 24 years: 2025–2030 and 2046–2063.

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

SYR · arrivals minus departures

Who arrives in Syria, and who leaves

In 2020–2025 Syria gains 519,104 people a year: everyone who arrives, minus everyone who leaves. The age at which that happens most is 25–29, at 95,223 a year more arriving than leaving.

one square = 10,000 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 801,514 (2007) and the most it lost was 2,081,303 (2013).

In 2024, 896,042 people living in Syria had been born in another country, 4 of every 100 people there, against 6 in 1990.

How migration works everywhere

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

Who has the babies in Syria

Of every 100 babies born in Syria in 2023, 10 had a mother under 20, 77 a mother aged 20 to 34 and 13 a mother aged 35 or older. In 1950 it was 13 under 20 and 20 aged 35 or older.

1950
13 · 67 · 20

2023
10 · 77 · 13

2050 · projected
8 · 76 · 16

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: 521,601
Average age when women have a baby: 28.8 years; 30.6 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19: 39; 118 in 1950

Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100

Babies born in Syria by the mother's age
Mother's age	1950	1975	2000	2023	2050 projected	2100 projected
10–14	1,087	2,239	1,204	494	252	78
15–19	20,443	45,055	57,173	52,608	42,299	12,959
20–24	40,123	90,579	147,801	164,084	144,955	63,412
25–29	40,403	81,903	139,816	150,076	162,377	129,316
30–34	29,951	58,066	100,912	88,775	102,934	136,978
35–39	19,467	40,506	53,121	48,870	62,999	72,489
40–44	10,343	19,912	15,911	14,824	21,224	17,580
45–49	2,880	5,031	3,094	1,806	2,068	1,293
50–54	168	247	139	64	67	24
All babies	164,865	343,538	519,171	521,601	539,175	434,129

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

SYR · healthy years · 2021

Years in good health in Syria

Of the 72.4 years a baby born in Syria in 2021 could expect, about 62.3 would be lived in full health (95% range 61.4–63.3). The years in less than full health come to 10.1, above the world's 9.5.

Women

62.8 in full health, 11.6 not: 74.4 years

Men

61.8 in full health, 8.8 not: 70.6 years

a year in full health a year in less than full health

How to read this: each square is a year of life, each row ten years; filled squares are years in full health, rounded to whole years.

Women: 62.8 healthy years of 74.4. Men: 61.8 of 70.6.

SYR · forced from home · end of 2025

Displacement in Syria

At the end of 2025, 5,542,227 people were displaced inside Syria, about 216 of every 1,000 people living there.

hosted from abroad14,029
displaced inside it5,542,227
Syria nationals abroad5,020,119

stayed inside their own country crossed a border

How to read this: each square is 100,000 people, so the rows can be compared with one another. The last row is people from Syria living in another country, wherever they are. An outlined square means fewer people than one square stands for.

In 2025, 172 people asked for asylum in Syria for the first time; 50,299 people from Syria asked for asylum in another country. Of every 100 people from Syria whose claims were decided that year, 48 were given protection. Who asks for asylum, and who is given it

How the world's displacement is counted

SYR · of every 100 people

How people live in Syria

Of every 100 people in Syria in 2025, 49 lived in a city, 33 in a town or suburb and 18 in the countryside.

cities towns and suburbs rural areas

10.7 of every 100 have no electricity at home (2024).

How to read this: everyone here, shrunk to 100 squares, with the colour saying whether that hundredth person lives in a city, a town or the countryside. Every country is measured by the same rule.

How the world's people live

SYR · adults 25 and over · 2020

How far people in Syria went in school

Of every 100 adults in Syria in 2020, 16 never went to school and 24 finished upper secondary or went further.

16 never went to school 31 some primary 18 finished primary 11 finished lower secondary 11 finished upper secondary 13 studied after school

Among women, 7.3 of every 100 aged 25–29 never went to school, against 41.6 of every 100 aged 60–64; among men, 4.1 against 14.2.

The middle projection has its working-age people most numerous in 2065; those among them who finished upper secondary are most numerous later, in 2095.

How to read this: the row is the adults (25 and over) shrunk to 100 people, coloured by how far each went in school, least schooling on the left. The Wittgenstein Centre's count, 2020.

How far the world's people went in school

SYR · cities · 2025

Cities in Syria

Syria had 37 cities in 2025, home to 12.4 million people. The largest, Damascus, holds 17 of every 100 people in Syria.

Damascus4,287,746
Aleppo2,922,277
Homs940,460
Latakia591,300
Hama374,643
Qamishli289,200
Deir Ez Zor259,771
Raqqa237,106
Al-Hasakah235,085
Manbij176,339

How to read this: the 10 biggest cities here in 2025, drawn on a single scale so the bars can be compared. Each is a built-up area on the UN's rule rather than a city government's patch.

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 Syria 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.