List of Asian countries by population

Source UN (World Population Prospects 2019)
Date10 Oct 2021

China is the most populous country in Asia, followed by India. The other five countries with a total number of humans above 100 mn are Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan, and the Philippines. The top five countries together hold a huge 75% share of the Asia population. As of 2021, 28 countries have a population above 10 million. The least populous country in Asia is Brunei Darussalam. Four countries/dependent territories in Asia have a population below one million.

Five Asian countries are in the list of the top ten most populous countries globally as it hosts China and India, the world's top two most populous countries. The other three Asian countries in the top ten are Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Twenty countries are within the top 50 world population ranking.

Out of 51 countries/territories, the population of 48 would increase, and three countries would decrease in 2021 compared to 2020. India would be the top contributor to the total population increment in 2021. India accounts for 34.7 percent of the total population increase in Asia. Indian population would increase by 13.40 million, followed by China (4.9 mn) and Pakistan(4.3 mn). Seven countries will add at least ten mn humans in 2021. The three decliners would be Japan, Lebanon, and Georgia.

The Syrian Arab Republic would have the highest population growth rate of 4.43% in 2021. Syria is the only country in Asia with having growth rate above 3%. Eight countries have a growth rate above 2%. Nine countries are on the list of the world's top 50 fastest-growing nations.

By 2027, India will have more people than China and will remain the most populous country on the continent until 2100.

In 1950 and 2000, Qatar and the Maldives were the least populous country in Asia, resp. Now Brunei Darussalam will remain the least populous country until 2100.

  • Population
  • Growth rate (%)
  • Choropleth Map
  • Bubble Map

Population (UN)

Code Country/Region Population Share (%) Rank Growth (2021) Growth Rank
20202021 AsiaWorldAsiaWorldNet%AsiaWorld
ARMArmenia2,780,4692,777,9700.06340.034543140-2,499-0.0946204
AZEAzerbaijan10,358,07410,412,6510.2180.129289054,5770.5335150
BHRBahrain1,472,2331,485,5090.03740.01854515513,2760.902106
CYPCyprus1,251,4881,260,1380.02600.0157471598,6500.6939133
GEOGeorgia3,744,3853,728,2820.08500.046341132-16,103-0.4349222
IRQIraq44,496,12245,504,5600.8800.56614351,008,4382.27339
ISRIsrael9,038,3099,174,5200.1880.1143198136,2111.511568
JORJordan11,285,86911,337,0520.2190.141278351,1830.4540157
KWTKuwait4,268,8734,310,1080.09250.05364012941,2350.9722101
LBNLebanon5,489,7395,353,9300.1450.066534122-135,809-2.4751236
OMNOman4,576,2984,644,3840.1120.05773812768,0861.49669
QATQatar2,695,1222,716,3910.06260.03384414321,2690.7912121
SAUSaudi Arabia36,408,82036,947,0250.7550.4591640538,2051.481671
PSEState of Palestine5,250,0725,371,2300.1120.066839121121,1582.31437
SYRSyrian Arab Republic22,125,24923,227,0140.3910.28925601,101,7654.9811
TURTurkey001.829034
AREUnited Arab Emirates9,441,1299,516,8710.2140.118299675,7420.8029119
YEMYemen33,696,61434,449,8250.6520.4281944753,2112.24740
KAZKazakhstan19,397,99819,606,6330.4060.2442466208,6351.082692
KGZKyrgyzstan6,630,6236,735,3470.1420.083735109104,7241.581361
TJKTajikistan9,952,78710,143,5430.2080.1263095190,7561.92852
TKMTurkmenistan6,430,7706,516,1000.1310.08103611185,3301.331782
UZBUzbekistan34,627,65235,163,9440.7250.4371743536,2921.551965
AFGAfghanistan41,128,77142,239,8540.8510.52515361,111,0832.70517
BGDBangladesh171,186,372172,954,3193.552.15581,767,9471.033097
BTNBhutan782,455787,4240.01670.00979481664,9690.6427142
INDIndia1,417,173,1731,428,627,66329.817.82111,454,4900.8131118
IRNIran (Islamic Republic of)88,550,57089,172,7671.821.111017622,1970.7025132
MDVMaldives523,787521,0210.01160.0064850175-2,766-0.5341224
NPLNepal30,547,58030,896,5900.6340.3842049349,0101.141188
PAKPakistan235,824,862240,485,6584.812.99454,660,7961.98948
LKASri Lanka21,832,14321,893,5790.4590.272236161,4360.2843171
CHNChina1,425,887,3371,425,671,35230.917.712-215,985-0.0244199
HKGChina, Hong Kong SAR7,488,8657,491,6090.1610.0931321042,7440.0437193
MACChina, Macao SAR695,168704,1490.01410.00875491688,9811.292083
TWNChina, Taiwan Province of China23,893,39423,923,2760.5100.297225729,8820.1347187
PRKDem. People's Republic of Korea26,069,41626,160,8210.5530.325215691,4050.3542163
JPNJapan123,951,692123,294,5132.691.53612-657,179-0.5350225
MNGMongolia3,398,3663,447,1570.07110.04284213348,7911.441474
KORRepublic of Korea51,815,81051,784,0591.100.6441329-31,751-0.0648201
BRNBrunei Darussalam449,002452,5240.009440.00562511763,5220.7832123
KHMCambodia16,767,84216,944,8260.3620.2112673176,9841.062194
IDNIndonesia275,501,339277,534,1225.913.45342,032,7830.7428128
LAOLao People's Democratic Republic7,529,4757,633,7790.1580.094933103104,3041.391878
MYSMalaysia33,938,22134,308,5250.7000.4261846370,3041.092491
MMRMyanmar54,179,30654,577,9971.170.6781227398,6910.7438130
PHLPhilippines115,559,009117,337,3682.371.467131,778,3591.542367
SGPSingapore5,975,6896,014,7230.1260.07483711439,0340.6536138
THAThailand71,697,03071,801,2791.490.8921120104,2490.1545184
TLSTimor-Leste1,341,2961,360,5960.02870.01694615619,3001.441073
VNMViet Nam98,186,85698,858,9502.101.23816672,0940.6833135
Asia 0 0 0.00 0 nan

Projected population (UN)

Code Country/Region 1950 2000 2050 2100
PopulationRankPopulationRankPopulation RankPopulationRank
ARMArmenia1,353,502333,069,597402,816,114442,038,61346
AZEAzerbaijan2,927,926288,122,7432711,064,995309,192,14133
BHRBahrain115,61247664,610462,316,047452,251,89145
CYPCyprus494,01840943,288441,354,589471,308,91147
GEOGeorgia3,527,008254,362,184353,516,870432,514,13043
IRQIraq5,719,1832223,497,5891670,940,13111107,711,2737
ISRIsrael1,257,968355,945,9493012,720,4152918,127,52326
JORJordan481,319415,122,4953212,932,4042813,644,11029
KWTKuwait153,103462,045,123435,393,471406,188,98338
LBNLebanon1,334,617343,842,774376,528,162385,707,20940
OMNOman456,410422,267,973426,915,451377,267,89337
QATQatar25,00651592,467473,851,121424,162,40842
SAUSaudi Arabia3,121,3402720,663,8402144,562,4841742,231,01217
PSEState of Palestine931,925383,224,009388,815,7773412,268,21831
SYRSyrian Arab Republic3,413,3252616,410,8472433,129,3252136,103,17819
TURTurkey21,408,398863,240,1961097,139,5651086,170,46210
AREUnited Arab Emirates69,594493,134,0673910,425,2843112,909,86930
YEMYemen4,661,2792317,409,0712348,080,0121553,171,32014
KAZKazakhstan6,703,0001914,922,7242524,024,0362327,917,81521
KGZKyrgyzstan1,740,005304,920,712339,126,0983310,984,93832
TJKTajikistan1,531,507326,216,3292916,208,2462725,328,02622
TKMTurkmenistan1,210,998364,516,128347,949,276368,421,34935
UZBUzbekistan6,264,0582024,769,9551442,942,4891842,270,84216
AFGAfghanistan7,752,1171720,779,9572064,682,9761374,937,96112
BGDBangladesh37,894,6715127,657,8625192,567,7795151,393,0185
BTNBhutan176,79645591,01448904,61448686,28749
INDIndia376,325,20021,056,575,54821,639,176,03611,447,025,6121
IRNIran (Islamic Republic of)17,119,2621365,623,3979103,098,083998,587,9858
MDVMaldives73,71648279,39651586,10250490,05850
NPLNepal8,483,3221523,941,0991535,323,9252023,708,19323
PAKPakistan37,542,3706142,343,5834338,013,1943403,102,8273
LKASri Lanka7,971,0981618,777,6062221,813,9642615,275,20928
CHNChina554,419,26911,290,550,76711,402,405,16721,064,993,4572
HKGChina, Hong Kong SAR1,974,002296,606,328288,041,042357,647,23136
MACChina, Macao SAR196,47344427,77249838,377491,011,61748
TWNChina, Taiwan Province of China7,602,3551821,966,5281922,412,9792416,258,85727
PRKDem. People's Republic of Korea10,549,4701422,929,0781826,561,6142222,792,83324
JPNJapan82,802,0843127,524,1686105,804,023874,959,37811
MNGMongolia780,199392,397,417414,448,931415,387,20841
KORRepublic of Korea19,211,3871047,379,2371246,829,9241629,541,95320
BRNBrunei Darussalam48,00950333,16650492,39151389,88451
KHMCambodia4,432,7242412,155,2412621,860,9172521,355,01125
IDNIndonesia69,543,3214211,513,8223330,904,6724320,782,4264
LAOLao People's Democratic Republic1,682,915315,323,701319,479,753328,423,97834
MYSMalaysia6,109,9022123,194,2521740,550,3711940,078,16718
MMRMyanmar17,779,6351246,719,6981362,253,4231455,298,92913
PHLPhilippines18,580,4831177,991,7578144,488,1716146,327,4416
SGPSingapore1,022,095374,028,872366,407,528395,733,47739
THAThailand20,710,353962,952,6391165,940,4941246,015,55315
TLSTimor-Leste414,75443884,366452,019,297462,372,97044
VNMViet Nam24,809,909779,910,4117109,605,010797,437,2869