Skip to content
ChartBasis
Choose a language: English

Population, long-run history: compare countries

See Population, long-run history for up to four countries side by side.

Countries being compared

Four countries are being compared, the most the chart can show clearly. Remove one to add another.

Population, long-run history by country

Population, long-run history

Annual, Persons, thousands

Source: Maddison Project Database 2023
Population, long-run history: latest observations by country
Date BarbadosIcelandPuerto RicoSouth Africa
2732773,80046,257
2742813,81146,958
2752853,81947,820
2762883,82448,480
2782893,82648,951
2792933,82749,478
2802963,82250,054
2813043,80550,667
2823113,78351,339
2833193,76152,077
2853193,74152,862
2863183,72253,682
2873193,67954,518
2883213,63655,356
2893243,58956,215
2903273,53457,075
2913313,47357,947
2913353,41158,830
2923433,35259,715
2933533,29560,595
2943613,26861,469
2943663,24762,355
2953723,23262,900
2953803,22863,382

Source: Bolt, J. and van Zanden, J.L. (2024), Maddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy: A new 2023 update, Journal of Economic Surveys, 1-41, DOI 10.1111/joes.12618. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. The original sources are listed on each page.

All data sources

Original sources of these estimates

GDP pc: 2008 - 2022: Total Economy Database the Conference Board for all countries included in TED. Otherwise UN national accounts statistics

Iceland

  • 1870-1945: Jonsson, G. (1998). The gross domestic product of Iceland, 1870-1945. Nordiska Historiska Nasjonalregnkaper, Artikkelsamling from Workshop IV, Solstrand 13-15 NOvember 1998.

South Africa

  • 1700–1900 (Cape Colony): Fourie, J. and Van Zanden, J.L. (2013). GDP in the Dutch Cape Colony: the Nationals Accounts of a Slave-Based Society, South African Journal of Economics, vol. 81 (4): 467 - 490

No separate list is published for Barbados, Puerto Rico; the database as a whole is cited above.