Sub-region · UN WPP 2024

Western Asia population

Western Asia population now

320,337,957

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: 303,965,432

Year: 2026; projection · medium
Population, mid-2026: 319.132 million
Median age: 28.7
Aged 65+: 6.4%

Move through time, 1950–2100

2023 | 2024

male female projection · one cell = 100,000 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

Western Asia in numbers

303,965,432 people lived in Western Asia in mid-2023: 3.8% of the world's people. That is 6.1 times its 1950 population of 50.0 million. It covers 18 countries and areas; the largest are Türkiye (28.7%), Iraq (14.8%), Yemen (13.0%), Saudi Arabia (10.9%) and Syria (7.8%).

In the UN's medium projection it is still growing in 2100, when it reaches 525 million.

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

The median age was 20.6 in 1950 and 28.0 in 2023; the projection has 40.9 in 2100. 6.0% of people were 65 or older in 2023, against 21.3% projected for 2100. The working-age population (15–64) is projected to peak in 2099 at 325 million.

Population, mid-2023: 303,965,432
Share of the world, 2023: 3.8%
Change in a year, mid-2022 to mid-2023: +2.11% · +6,276,767 people
Births, 2023: 5,839,515
Deaths, 2023: 1,467,071
Net migration, 2023: +1,255,225
Children per woman, 2023: 2.54
Median age, 2023: 28.0 years
Life expectancy at birth, 2023: 75.4 years
Population, mid-1950: 49,961,814
Projected, mid-2050: 419,320,422
Projected, mid-2100: 524,613,393

AGG · 1950–2100 · total population

Population, 1950–2100

estimates | projections0100 m200 m300 m400 m500 m600 m1950197520002025205020752100

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: Western Asia, 1950–2100

Western 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	49,356,791	2,211,110	1,114,328	6.17	43.8
1951	estimate	50,566,836	2,282,855	1,123,882	6.20	44.5
1952	estimate	51,847,933	2,366,641	1,132,861	6.24	45.2
1953	estimate	53,205,528	2,436,012	1,146,013	6.25	45.7
1954	estimate	54,617,617	2,496,933	1,149,669	6.23	46.4
1955	estimate	56,064,240	2,535,133	1,151,109	6.15	47.0
1956	estimate	57,535,338	2,608,992	1,150,562	6.17	47.7
1957	estimate	59,205,325	2,626,215	1,164,382	6.04	48.0
1958	estimate	60,868,795	2,696,292	1,171,635	6.05	48.5
1959	estimate	62,583,070	2,794,665	1,166,876	6.13	49.3
1960	estimate	64,367,875	2,865,687	1,161,046	6.13	50.1
1961	estimate	66,166,354	2,968,573	1,159,494	6.21	50.8
1962	estimate	68,039,928	3,084,519	1,170,524	6.32	51.5
1963	estimate	70,030,168	3,142,082	1,175,161	6.31	52.1
1964	estimate	72,067,794	3,194,577	1,169,983	6.28	52.8
1965	estimate	74,134,426	3,237,876	1,162,808	6.23	53.5
1966	estimate	76,212,522	3,285,663	1,157,439	6.18	54.0
1967	estimate	78,426,721	3,327,228	1,155,328	6.11	54.7
1968	estimate	80,671,869	3,377,225	1,150,509	6.06	55.3
1969	estimate	82,996,678	3,438,174	1,141,262	6.01	56.0
1970	estimate	85,358,627	3,506,509	1,136,094	5.96	56.7
1971	estimate	87,691,799	3,573,791	1,126,527	5.90	57.4
1972	estimate	90,164,651	3,625,334	1,119,900	5.83	58.1
1973	estimate	92,658,441	3,667,639	1,119,349	5.73	58.5
1974	estimate	95,177,564	3,713,682	1,120,325	5.65	59.0
1975	estimate	97,709,296	3,763,572	1,119,068	5.57	59.4
1976	estimate	100,261,340	3,819,262	1,146,676	5.49	59.3
1977	estimate	103,017,979	3,886,400	1,088,317	5.39	61.0
1978	estimate	105,926,775	3,972,959	1,077,490	5.32	61.7
1979	estimate	108,888,737	4,074,694	1,073,547	5.26	62.2
1980	estimate	111,780,723	4,155,391	1,085,154	5.18	62.4
1981	estimate	114,853,004	4,231,047	1,100,320	5.11	62.4
1982	estimate	117,872,325	4,292,706	1,134,789	5.03	62.2
1983	estimate	121,198,195	4,372,910	1,077,333	4.95	63.6
1984	estimate	124,723,147	4,453,051	1,076,691	4.87	64.1
1985	estimate	128,312,309	4,526,559	1,071,572	4.78	64.6
1986	estimate	131,709,634	4,584,081	1,078,236	4.69	64.8
1987	estimate	135,457,235	4,631,862	1,065,456	4.60	65.4
1988	estimate	139,164,043	4,695,851	1,122,780	4.52	64.8
1989	estimate	142,878,271	4,738,187	1,093,786	4.43	65.7
1990	estimate	146,760,106	4,741,531	1,096,845	4.29	66.0
1991	estimate	149,096,150	4,735,436	1,057,618	4.18	66.9
1992	estimate	153,393,386	4,771,215	1,041,994	4.09	67.6
1993	estimate	157,201,019	4,818,521	1,045,766	4.01	67.9
1994	estimate	161,561,257	4,866,029	1,060,218	3.92	68.0
1995	estimate	165,428,166	4,887,811	1,060,319	3.83	68.4
1996	estimate	169,292,111	4,872,755	1,058,281	3.72	68.8
1997	estimate	173,174,982	4,922,585	1,072,997	3.66	68.9
1998	estimate	177,029,966	4,956,405	1,074,628	3.59	69.3
1999	estimate	180,886,677	4,974,251	1,094,470	3.51	69.4
2000	estimate	184,778,712	4,957,416	1,076,915	3.41	70.0
2001	estimate	189,002,208	4,937,586	1,077,415	3.32	70.4
2002	estimate	193,187,037	4,909,117	1,078,377	3.22	70.8
2003	estimate	197,548,420	4,939,259	1,097,600	3.15	71.0
2004	estimate	201,815,019	5,023,139	1,115,859	3.13	71.2
2005	estimate	206,316,721	5,093,830	1,128,958	3.09	71.5
2006	estimate	211,028,559	5,210,046	1,157,937	3.08	71.6
2007	estimate	216,126,625	5,314,152	1,168,081	3.06	72.0
2008	estimate	221,664,040	5,405,357	1,162,688	3.02	72.5
2009	estimate	227,255,466	5,489,368	1,165,833	3.00	72.9
2010	estimate	232,512,139	5,559,660	1,180,835	2.96	73.2
2011	estimate	237,770,614	5,659,917	1,225,389	2.95	73.2
2012	estimate	243,685,301	5,823,171	1,277,345	2.97	73.0
2013	estimate	249,438,376	5,873,379	1,284,081	2.95	73.3
2014	estimate	255,311,418	5,964,708	1,289,739	2.96	73.7
2015	estimate	261,729,875	5,950,308	1,337,842	2.90	73.6
2016	estimate	268,072,987	5,945,996	1,361,502	2.84	73.8
2017	estimate	273,098,264	5,935,649	1,355,233	2.80	74.3
2018	estimate	277,028,976	5,897,837	1,351,630	2.75	74.6
2019	estimate	281,089,206	5,823,755	1,341,165	2.68	75.1
2020	estimate	285,634,868	5,747,813	1,537,522	2.62	73.9
2021	estimate	289,664,438	5,716,231	1,649,368	2.58	73.5
2022	estimate	294,225,727	5,688,864	1,452,566	2.53	75.3
2023	estimate	301,151,603	5,839,515	1,467,071	2.54	75.4
2024	estimate	306,779,262	5,918,660	1,507,775	2.54	75.6
2025	projection	311,922,374	5,962,941	1,512,209	2.52	75.9
2026	projection	316,672,089	5,996,330	1,511,384	2.50	76.3
2027	projection	321,591,361	6,030,870	1,540,249	2.48	76.5
2028	projection	326,359,886	6,063,365	1,570,875	2.47	76.6
2029	projection	330,992,456	6,091,676	1,602,519	2.45	76.8
2030	projection	335,558,602	6,118,590	1,635,641	2.43	76.9
2031	projection	339,998,225	6,138,406	1,670,233	2.41	77.1
2032	projection	344,407,965	6,160,664	1,706,931	2.39	77.2
2033	projection	348,778,806	6,179,427	1,745,503	2.37	77.4
2034	projection	353,123,100	6,197,550	1,785,194	2.36	77.5
2035	projection	357,421,815	6,205,497	1,826,743	2.34	77.6
2036	projection	361,688,982	6,217,765	1,868,657	2.32	77.8
2037	projection	365,943,082	6,219,157	1,911,904	2.30	77.9
2038	projection	370,165,821	6,232,116	1,956,457	2.29	78.1
2039	projection	374,343,149	6,237,417	2,001,392	2.28	78.2
2040	projection	378,520,137	6,243,743	2,047,920	2.27	78.3
2041	projection	382,657,850	6,249,162	2,094,941	2.25	78.5
2042	projection	386,723,092	6,252,406	2,143,279	2.24	78.6
2043	projection	390,748,258	6,256,485	2,192,523	2.23	78.7
2044	projection	394,694,242	6,258,821	2,241,315	2.22	78.9
2045	projection	398,614,717	6,260,400	2,290,968	2.21	79.0
2046	projection	402,496,812	6,258,280	2,341,457	2.20	79.1
2047	projection	406,308,265	6,251,529	2,391,443	2.19	79.3
2048	projection	410,080,014	6,247,170	2,442,923	2.18	79.4
2049	projection	413,812,377	6,241,114	2,495,227	2.16	79.5
2050	projection	417,511,105	6,235,776	2,546,771	2.15	79.6
2051	projection	421,129,740	6,228,428	2,598,473	2.14	79.7
2052	projection	424,679,479	6,219,185	2,649,960	2.13	79.9
2053	projection	428,140,193	6,209,642	2,703,232	2.12	80.0
2054	projection	431,603,892	6,202,857	2,756,360	2.10	80.1
2055	projection	435,002,686	6,196,632	2,809,876	2.09	80.2
2056	projection	438,326,630	6,190,845	2,864,372	2.08	80.3
2057	projection	441,586,977	6,186,103	2,918,840	2.07	80.5
2058	projection	444,769,426	6,182,677	2,974,318	2.06	80.6
2059	projection	447,893,090	6,178,890	3,030,202	2.05	80.7
2060	projection	450,977,129	6,176,029	3,087,219	2.04	80.8
2061	projection	454,045,069	6,176,280	3,143,776	2.03	80.9
2062	projection	456,994,352	6,174,056	3,200,400	2.02	81.0
2063	projection	459,879,860	6,168,516	3,258,142	2.01	81.1
2064	projection	462,733,709	6,167,181	3,313,246	2.00	81.2
2065	projection	465,501,209	6,163,368	3,369,739	2.00	81.3
2066	projection	468,237,964	6,158,952	3,426,471	1.99	81.5
2067	projection	470,917,501	6,154,465	3,483,329	1.98	81.6
2068	projection	473,469,935	6,141,148	3,539,962	1.97	81.7
2069	projection	475,971,692	6,128,306	3,596,266	1.96	81.8
2070	projection	478,379,829	6,114,213	3,650,900	1.95	81.9
2071	projection	480,741,421	6,100,300	3,703,683	1.95	82.0
2072	projection	483,050,227	6,086,705	3,755,989	1.94	82.1
2073	projection	485,286,490	6,073,268	3,806,781	1.93	82.2
2074	projection	487,472,914	6,058,072	3,856,573	1.93	82.3
2075	projection	489,542,674	6,039,623	3,906,362	1.92	82.4
2076	projection	491,525,883	6,023,791	3,956,730	1.91	82.5
2077	projection	493,462,632	6,008,617	4,005,888	1.91	82.6
2078	projection	495,309,648	5,991,213	4,053,701	1.90	82.7
2079	projection	497,144,240	5,978,247	4,100,167	1.89	82.8
2080	projection	498,980,711	5,965,823	4,146,499	1.89	82.9
2081	projection	500,778,401	5,953,195	4,191,847	1.88	83.0
2082	projection	502,530,863	5,937,987	4,235,143	1.88	83.2
2083	projection	504,204,179	5,922,729	4,278,405	1.87	83.3
2084	projection	505,775,455	5,909,237	4,320,143	1.86	83.3
2085	projection	507,318,824	5,897,396	4,360,440	1.86	83.5
2086	projection	508,851,060	5,884,536	4,399,747	1.85	83.6
2087	projection	510,284,031	5,868,393	4,438,267	1.85	83.7
2088	projection	511,638,661	5,852,612	4,475,948	1.84	83.8
2089	projection	512,968,839	5,839,663	4,514,037	1.84	83.9
2090	projection	514,274,470	5,827,114	4,550,731	1.83	84.0
2091	projection	515,452,315	5,815,348	4,585,918	1.83	84.1
2092	projection	516,664,768	5,803,428	4,622,960	1.82	84.2
2093	projection	517,820,103	5,791,536	4,659,744	1.82	84.3
2094	projection	518,908,768	5,777,256	4,693,701	1.81	84.4
2095	projection	519,891,812	5,762,526	4,726,255	1.81	84.5
2096	projection	520,889,415	5,748,568	4,760,529	1.80	84.6
2097	projection	521,812,803	5,735,579	4,795,233	1.80	84.7
2098	projection	522,667,293	5,722,490	4,827,048	1.80	84.8
2099	projection	523,491,726	5,708,534	4,857,764	1.79	84.9
2100	projection	524,259,598	5,697,224	4,887,660	1.79	85.0

AGG · members

Countries and areas in Western Asia

Western 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	Türkiye	87,270,502	28.7%	65,338,458
2	Iraq	45,074,049	14.8%	100,649,056
3	Yemen	39,390,799	13.0%	110,035,634
4	Saudi Arabia	33,264,292	10.9%	71,006,690
5	Syria	23,594,623	7.8%	43,686,646
6	Jordan	11,439,214	3.8%	21,322,926
7	United Arab Emirates	10,642,081	3.5%	26,134,299
8	Azerbaijan	10,318,207	3.4%	10,021,320
9	Israel	9,256,314	3.0%	19,747,040
10	Lebanon	5,773,492	1.9%	7,192,592
11	Palestine	5,409,202	1.8%	11,482,186
12	Oman	5,049,269	1.7%	12,094,997
13	Kuwait	4,838,782	1.6%	9,602,015
14	Georgia	3,807,492	1.3%	2,969,403
15	Qatar	2,979,082	0.98%	7,272,256
16	Armenia	2,943,393	0.97%	1,692,198
17	Bahrain	1,569,666	0.52%	3,090,322
18	Cyprus	1,344,976	0.44%	1,275,353

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

Western Asia: population by single year of age, mid-2026
Age	Male	Female
0	3,026,530	2,879,640
1	3,009,500	2,867,740
2	2,980,110	2,841,500
3	2,932,560	2,796,380
4	2,909,780	2,776,990
5	2,917,540	2,788,480
6	2,919,880	2,790,780
7	2,911,720	2,782,910
8	2,910,570	2,781,890
9	2,926,450	2,795,350
10	2,948,160	2,814,160
11	2,972,100	2,837,310
12	2,980,310	2,848,860
13	2,964,840	2,839,780
14	2,922,790	2,806,670
15	2,867,740	2,759,410
16	2,818,710	2,708,590
17	2,777,720	2,654,840
18	2,739,090	2,596,980
19	2,693,230	2,530,250
20	2,662,630	2,473,760
21	2,678,030	2,446,840
22	2,723,520	2,442,360
23	2,777,650	2,450,300
24	2,828,000	2,469,380
25	2,893,940	2,501,120
26	2,947,720	2,515,100
27	2,966,610	2,505,500
28	2,980,250	2,483,400
29	2,992,800	2,454,390
30	2,999,390	2,430,310
31	3,005,410	2,412,480
32	2,990,610	2,385,860
33	2,978,400	2,357,110
34	2,946,660	2,327,240
35	2,926,880	2,301,530
36	2,877,580	2,264,210
37	2,814,700	2,219,980
38	2,760,320	2,177,540
39	2,675,450	2,131,400
40	2,588,660	2,084,690
41	2,508,280	2,038,220
42	2,421,000	1,992,330
43	2,360,850	1,950,420
44	2,279,260	1,908,810
45	2,209,940	1,871,420
46	2,135,480	1,825,840
47	2,049,460	1,767,640
48	1,970,500	1,707,380
49	1,884,040	1,644,610
50	1,800,210	1,579,150
51	1,718,750	1,512,400
52	1,633,980	1,448,330
53	1,559,060	1,392,460
54	1,479,530	1,338,380
55	1,408,780	1,289,890
56	1,345,520	1,246,910
57	1,290,310	1,211,670
58	1,245,460	1,186,720
59	1,203,960	1,170,740
60	1,162,680	1,157,330
61	1,116,090	1,129,730
62	1,060,790	1,087,600
63	996,910	1,037,540
64	916,066	969,702
65	839,043	901,032
66	775,870	845,118
67	715,906	791,566
68	664,994	747,930
69	630,704	724,018
70	599,846	701,906
71	564,461	671,388
72	525,700	635,776
73	483,614	594,844
74	438,496	549,122
75	393,465	501,829
76	350,984	456,574
77	314,097	415,952
78	280,634	379,107
79	246,176	340,428
80	209,346	297,711
81	176,978	259,602
82	150,450	229,392
83	129,363	206,601
84	110,991	187,332
85	92,568	167,645
86	77,240	147,790
87	64,245	128,755
88	52,932	110,098
89	42,092	90,892
90	32,626	73,157
91	24,722	57,856
92	18,283	45,312
93	13,372	35,382
94	9,407	26,842
95	6,452	20,015
96	4,306	14,618
97	2,746	10,318
98	1,756	7,122
99	1,120	4,770
100+	1,780	7,421

AGG · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

Western 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 Western Asia

On the UN's projection, Western Asia will have the most working-age people it ever has in 2099: 324,762,000 people aged 15–64. In 2023 it had 200,208,000.

100 aged 15–64

43 children

9 aged 65+

aged 15–64 children under 15 aged 65 and over

How to read this: the orange squares are 100 people aged 15–64 in 2023, and the rows below are how many children (teal) and how many people aged 65 or older (violet) lived alongside them.

Fewer than 50 dependants live alongside every 100 people aged 15–64 in 16 years: 2028–2043.

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 Western Asia, and who leaves

In 2020–2025 Western Asia gains 1,046,112 people a year: everyone who arrives, minus everyone who leaves. The age at which that happens most is 25–29, at 483,321 a year more arriving than leaving.

one square = 50,000 people a year

020406080+

more arrive than leave more leave than arrive

How to read this: left to right is age, from babies to 100. Blue squares above the line are ages at which more people arrive than leave; orange squares below it, ages at which more leave than arrive. These are the UN's projection for 2020–2025. There is no record of migration by age before 2020.

Across the counted years, 1950 to 2023, its biggest single-year gain was 2,689,565 (2022); its biggest loss, 1,308,656 (1990).

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 Western Asia

Of every 100 babies born in Western Asia in 2023, 7 had a mother under 20, 76 a mother aged 20 to 34 and 17 a mother aged 35 or older. In 1950 it was 14 under 20 and 17 aged 35 or older.

1950
14 · 69 · 17

2023
7 · 76 · 17

2050 · projected
6 · 73 · 21

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

How to read this: each block is 100 babies born in that year, one square each, coloured by how old the mother was. The numbers under a block are the three groups, youngest mothers first.

Babies born, 2023: 5,839,515
Average age when women have a baby: 29.0 years; 29.1 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19: 35; 117 in 1950

Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100

Babies born in Western Asia by the mother's age
Mother's age	1950	1975	2000	2023	2050 projected	2100 projected
10–14	23,474	28,491	16,270	5,827	2,616	733
15–19	288,007	491,503	527,190	431,005	347,222	151,760
20–24	587,128	1,113,893	1,425,114	1,412,207	1,275,475	809,578
25–29	546,151	926,257	1,337,508	1,693,627	1,717,333	1,610,740
30–34	383,597	612,343	921,921	1,309,942	1,583,516	1,769,166
35–39	246,566	394,024	516,850	719,535	965,711	1,026,320
40–44	111,666	161,481	172,164	232,314	310,621	303,224
45–49	23,349	33,883	38,460	33,601	32,117	24,977
50–54	1,172	1,697	1,939	1,457	1,165	726
All babies	2,211,110	3,763,572	4,957,416	5,839,515	6,235,776	5,697,224

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 18 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.