Publications

Population Prospects of Countries in Special Situations provides an up-to-date overview of current and future major population trends in the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS in connection with the opportunities and challenges these trends present for achieving sustainable development. This report highlights levels and trends in population size and distribution, mortality, fertility and international migration, including projections to 2050, for the 110 vulnerable countries or territories, while also discussing the implications of population change for achieving specific Sustainable Development Goals.

The Population and Vital Statistics Report presents most recent data on population size (total, male and female) from the latest available census of the population, national official population estimates and the number and rate (births, deaths and infant deaths) for the latest available year within the past 15 years. It also presents United Nations estimates of the mid-year population of the world, and its major areas and regions.

This report, in this format, is published once a year, while the electronic version is updated every two weeks at the UNSD website. The report presents  data on total, female and male population counts from the most recent population census,…

Population ageing is an inevitable outcome of the demographic transition — the historic shift from higher to lower levels of fertility and mortality that yields a period of rapid population increase and, eventually, an older population that is much larger as a share of the total. While more developed countries have completed or are well advanced in this transition, less and least developed countries (LDCs) are predominantly in the early or middle stages, when the older population is still small but starting to grow. Such countries can anticipate a continuing, gradual increase in both the number and the share of older persons, many of whom will require substantial care and support at some…