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Countries with the Most Population Growth by Decade

Name the countries that added the most people in each decade since the 1950s.
According to the United Nations
Data for the 2020s through January 2024
Current countries even if they didn't exist in earlier decades
Quiz by relessness
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Last updated: January 15, 2024
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First submittedApril 19, 2017
Times taken75,478
Average score88.0%
Rating4.98
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2020s (so far)
45.3 m
India
20.7 m
Nigeria
17.7 m
Pakistan
12.6 m
D. R. Congo
12.5 m
Ethiopia
8.44 m
Afghanistan
7.86 m
Indonesia
7.65 m
Tanzania
7.40 m
Bangladesh
7.05 m
Egypt
6.84 m
Philippines
5.56 m
Uganda
5.50 m
United States
4.90 m
Sudan
4.48 m
Brazil
 
 
1980s
172 m
India
170 m
China
34.7 m
Pakistan
34.1 m
Indonesia
28.5 m
Brazil
25.0 m
United States
23.1 m
Bangladesh
22.1 m
Nigeria
16.6 m
Iran
14.0 m
Mexico
13.9 m
Vietnam
13.3 m
Egypt
13.0 m
Philippines
12.1 m
Ethiopia
10.2 m
South Africa
2010s
148 m
India
80.8 m
China
47.0 m
Nigeria
32.8 m
Pakistan
28.3 m
Indonesia
27.7 m
Ethiopia
26.0 m
D. R. Congo
25.0 m
United States
20.2 m
Egypt
18.9 m
Bangladesh
17.5 m
Philippines
17.1 m
Brazil
16.3 m
Tanzania
13.9 m
Mexico
12.1 m
Iran
 
 
1970s
164 m
China
138 m
India
32.7 m
Indonesia
25.7 m
Brazil
23.3 m
United States
20.7 m
Pakistan
17.4 m
Mexico
16.9 m
Nigeria
16.1 m
Bangladesh
12.5 m
Japan
10.9 m
Vietnam
10.8 m
Philippines
10.0 m
Thailand
9.81 m
Iran
8.79 m
Egypt
2000s
192 m
India
84.6 m
China
40.5 m
Pakistan
37.5 m
Nigeria
30.0 m
Indonesia
29.0 m
United States
21.9 m
Ethiopia
20.7 m
Brazil
19.5 m
Bangladesh
17.4 m
D. R. Congo
16.7 m
Philippines
15.7 m
Egypt
14.6 m
Mexico
10.6 m
Kenya
10.5 m
Tanzania
 
 
1960s
158 m
China
110 m
India
26.5 m
Indonesia
24.7 m
United States
23.2 m
Brazil
17.1 m
Bangladesh
13.8 m
Mexico
13.1 m
Pakistan
11.0 m
Russia
10.7 m
Japan
10.5 m
Nigeria
9.24 m
Vietnam
9.08 m
Thailand
8.90 m
Philippines
7.98 m
Turkey
1990s
189 m
India
117 m
China
38.3 m
Pakistan
34.8 m
United States
32.0 m
Indonesia
27.3 m
Nigeria
25.3 m
Brazil
22.0 m
Bangladesh
19.0 m
Ethiopia
16.3 m
Philippines
16.2 m
Mexico
14.1 m
Egypt
12.5 m
D. R. Congo
12.4 m
Vietnam
10.6 m
Iran
 
 
1950s
116 m
China
87.7 m
India
27.8 m
United States
18.8 m
Brazil
18.3 m
Indonesia
17.1 m
Russia
10.4 m
Japan
10.3 m
Bangladesh
9.99 m
Philippines
8.47 m
Mexico
7.92 m
Pakistan
7.64 m
Nigeria
7.40 m
Vietnam
6.43 m
Turkey
6.04 m
Thailand
+13
Level 65
Apr 19, 2017
Five stars and five points!
+1
Level 20
Jan 28, 2022
me too
+2
Level 66
Apr 20, 2017
clever quizzzzz
+15
Level 77
Apr 20, 2017
I'd like to see this as a percentage increase of the population. Basically, it's just a list of the most populated countries in the world with a few exceptions. But if this was percentage of population, it would be much more challenging. Also, technically wouldn't South Sudan be in the 2010s since it gained independence in 2011? That means that it went from 0 population to over 11 million? :-)
+5
Level 65
Apr 20, 2017
Read the second caveat - I assume that also means it takes the current southern Sudan's population as it was in 2010, and it counted the northern half for every other decade.
+4
Level 68
Jul 10, 2017
That's exactly what I was thinking
+1
Level 75
Jan 24, 2022
I liked this. I think the percentage one would also be interesting (but incredibly difficult).
+2
Level 69
Apr 20, 2017
Same would go for East Timor in the 2000's
+5
Level 78
May 25, 2022
With a population well under 2 million, it's not making it on the list regardless of the rules.
+2
Level 70
Apr 20, 2017
Missed Poland Sudan and Uganda
+5
Level 53
Jul 10, 2017
As Buck2017 added, it is more or less a list of the most populated countries. It would be better if it had the % of each decade.
+2
Level 22
Jul 10, 2017
Missed Nigeria, Turkey, Ethiopia (the most obvious ones), Kenya, Tanzania and Myanmar.
+1
Level 68
Jul 11, 2017
Dang, one missed. Poland.
+1
Level 35
Jul 11, 2017
Literally nearly typed Vietnam at the last second ._.
+1
Level 82
Jul 13, 2017
Pretty easy. Only missed Myanmar.
+1
Level 74
Jul 20, 2017
With one second to go
+7
Level 41
Aug 29, 2017
Canada should up here soon, when Resslessness updates it, the Canadian immigration site broke down after trump was elected, too many people moving to Canada.
+26
Level 82
Jan 7, 2019
If this was measured in terms of the number of Americans who threaten to move to Canada but never actually do, yeah, they'd be in the top 3 of every decade.
+11
Level 67
Dec 13, 2019
I met a guy in China who left the United States because Obama was elected. Not really sure how moving to an ostensibly communist country with far fewer freedoms than we have ameliorated any of his concerns, but I have to admire him for being the only American I have ever met who made good on a promise to leave if the wrong candidate was elected. Or maybe he was just full of it and moved for a different. Still though.
+4
Level 86
Dec 27, 2019
+jmellor he probably moved because here in China government market caps mean your dollars are worth at least three times their worth in the USA, and any American that speaks English can get a job as a teacher.
+4
Level 82
Apr 3, 2020
Makes as much sense as getting mad at the NSA for not respecting people's private data, illegally stealing tons of classified information, and then giving that data to the Russians and the Chinese without even reviewing it yourself, I guess?
+2
Level 79
Dec 11, 2019
relessness*
+2
Level 79
Dec 11, 2019
Missed one but still got five points - missed Afghanistan!
+2
Level 43
Dec 11, 2019
Didn't think of Uganda until the last second. 100%
+2
Level 38
Mar 31, 2020
Burma should count if you wrote it for Myanmar....
+2
Level 35
Jan 24, 2022
And The 13 Colonies should work if you wrote it for USA XD
+4
Level 57
Jan 24, 2022
Thats not even close, Myanmar was called Burma within these decades. While the 13 Colonies was way before.
+2
Level 75
Apr 24, 2020
If the two cells in the header row for 1990 are merged should it not be the same for the other decades?
+1
Level 62
Oct 10, 2020
If I had one second more I would've gotten 100%. I just thought about Poland at the last second but couldn't type it fast enough.
+3
Level 79
Jan 4, 2022
Just missed USA (slaps forehead)
+2
Level 23
Jan 24, 2022
So high growth = crumbling society
+3
Level 79
Jan 15, 2024
Uh, no?
+1
Level 18
Jan 24, 2022
ayo
+2
Level 35
Jan 24, 2022
I missed Russia?(I feel so stupid)
+1
Level 67
Jan 27, 2022
Just missed Philippines
+2
Level 69
Jan 15, 2024
Afghanistan still growing with Taleban in the power is incredible
+3
Level 70
Jan 15, 2024
To be fair Afghanistan has one of the higher birth rates in the world and even during the decades of civil war (which are mostly over) the death rate, while horrific, didn't even get close to directly affecting population. Now, with the Taliban in power, Afghanistan is 'mostly' stable, although ISIS-K is still a major problem and statebuilding for an organization used to guerilla warfare will be daunting.
+3
Level ∞
Jan 15, 2024
You need to correct your model @levic. In the modern world, population growth rates are anti-correlated with wealth.

Less wealth = more population growth.

The fact that Afghanistan is run by religious extremists only increases the growth rate. This is why, absent revolutionary technology such as AI or artificial wombs, the future belongs to poor countries and extreme religious conservatives.

Don't like it? Start having more kids.

+1
Level 57
Jan 15, 2024
I can't believe I got them all! I'm proud of myself for this one!
+2
Level 62
Jan 27, 2024
It's crazy how China went from being on the list in all of them to completely gone in the 2020s.