The 30 most populated countries in the world are showing no signs of slowing down and are a reminder of the finite sources we have in this world and how we need to ensure that we live in a sustainable way. There isn’t just one but multiple reasons on why the human population is consistently increasing, having added 1 billion since 2010 and 2 billion since just 1998. According to the United Nations, the global population will cross 8 billion in November 2022, and estimates suggest reaching 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100.
While the above statistics make it seem like the human population is continuously growing at a massive scale, if you look at the driving factors, that is not actually the case. The main reason for an increasing population is the fact that there have been massive breakthroughs in science, medicine and technology, which have allowed a better standard of living than ever before, along with a higher life expectancy.
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The birth rate, on the other hand, is actually declining. In 2021, the birth rate per woman stood at 2.3, a major decline from the high achieved in 1950 of around 5 births per woman. This change has been led by a change in the mindset, especially regarding the use of contraceptives, family planning and most importantly, the improvement in women’s rights. By 2050, global fertility is expected to reduce to 2.1 births per woman.
While an ever-increasing population makes it necessary to plan resource allocation for the future, there is also a concern regarding declining birth rates in many countries. South Korea recently broke its own record of the lowest birth rate in the world of 0.81 births per woman, down from 0.84 in the previous year. This is a decline of 0.5% of the country’s total population. The issue of living in a world with low birth rates and high life expectancy is that a large percentage of the world’s population is unable to work, as the number of retirees increase, skewing the average age of a country as well. Since retirees don’t work, they are unable to contribute to the economy, thereby increasing the burdening. Hence, a balance is always essential.
Insider Monkey is a financial news website. We are primarily interested in the 30 most populated countries in the world because most of these countries aren’t fully developed and some of these present long-term investment opportunities for early emerging markets investors. The trick is to find countries that are economically developing rapidly as well as population wise. These countries’ publicly traded stocks are likely to have higher revenue growth rates than most US stocks and they usually trade at much lower multiples. For example, my favorite country in this list ranks fifth with a young population of nearly 230 million.
Here are the 30 most populated countries in the world.
30. Uganda
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 48.4
Located in East Africa, Uganda is a landlocked country where the population has increased by 10.6 million in just the past 12 years.
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29. South Korea
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 51.3
If its birth rate continues to decline, South Korea won’t be in this list in a few years time, but for now it is one of the most populated countries in the world.
28. Colombia
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 51.5
Colombia is a South American country which is the third most populated one in Latin America.
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27. Myanmar
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 55.2
Myanmar has been in the news over the past year after a brutal coup allowed the military to take over the country and the brutal genocide of Muslim Rohingya people.
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26. Kenya
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 56.2
Kenya has faced rapid population growth because of which more than 70% of its residents are below the age of 30, which allows for a lot more potential for the economy.
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25. Italy
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 60.3
Italy is among the most populated countries in Europe, with a population density higher than most Western nations as well.
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24. South Africa
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 60.3
80% of South Africa’s total population is Black, while the country is also home to around five million illegal immigrants, a majority of whom are from Zimbabwe.
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23. Tanzania
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 63.3
The African country is famous for its safaris, but it has a burgeoning population too.
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22. France
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 65.6
France is among the most populated countries in the world, and is considered an outlier in the developed world because of the fact that most of its population growth is from natural births.
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21. United Kingdom
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 68.5
The UK consists of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and of course, is home to a very diverse demographic.
20. Thailand
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 70.1
The South East Asian country is mostly rural, focused in rice-growing areas though migration to urban areas has increased as well in recent years.
Jade ThaiCatwalk/Shutterstock.com
19. Germany
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 83.9
The most populous country in the EU has a declining birth rate, which is below the replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman.
Copyright: vadymvdrobot / 123RF Stock Photo
18. Turkey
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 85.6
Turkey consists of a majority of ethnic Turks, but is also home to the largest Kurdish population in the world.
17. Iran
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 86
Iran consists of numerous ethnic groups united by a common nationality.
Copyright: nmessana / 123RF Stock Photo
16. Congo
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 95.2
Nearly half of Congolese can speak French, among the 242 languages spoken in the country.
Christopher Morley-Pegge/Shutterstock.com
15. Vietnam
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 99
Vietnam is another country in the most populated countries in the world where a large percentage of the population resides in rural areas.
Copyright: limsoonchiong / 123RF Stock Photo
14. Egypt
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 106.2
The most populated country in the Arab world is also the first in our list with a population of more than 100 million people.
13. Philippines
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 112.5
The Philippines government has tried to introduce family planning to reduce the birth rate though it has met with a lot of opposition.
Tony Magdaraog / Shutterstock.com
12. Ethiopia
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 120.8
The most populous landlocked country in the world is home to various ethnic groups.
Ilia Torlin / Shutterstock.com
11. Japan
Total population in 2022 (in millions): 125.6
Of the over 125 million people living in Japan, more than 122 million are Japanese nationals.
Click to continue reading and see the 10 Most Populated Countries in the World.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
