Population, long-run history: compare countries

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

To start, we chose Germany, United States, Japan. Add or remove countries to compare the ones you want.

Countries being compared

Add a country

Population, long-run history by country

Annual, Persons, thousands

Source: Maddison Project Database 2023

Population, long-run history: latest observations by country
Date	Germany	United States	Japan
Dec 31, 1999	81,439	279,040	126,512
Dec 31, 2000	81,474	282,162	126,755
Dec 31, 2001	81,534	284,969	127,056
Dec 31, 2002	81,595	287,625	127,324
Dec 31, 2003	81,566	290,108	127,558
Dec 31, 2004	81,473	292,805	127,658
Dec 31, 2005	81,354	295,517	127,679
Dec 31, 2006	81,190	298,380	127,762
Dec 31, 2007	81,009	301,231	127,904
Dec 31, 2008	80,781	304,094	127,969
Dec 31, 2009	80,500	306,772	127,958
Dec 31, 2010	80,301	309,327	127,967
Dec 31, 2011	80,292	311,583	127,755
Dec 31, 2012	80,443	313,878	127,476
Dec 31, 2013	80,663	316,060	127,257
Dec 31, 2014	81,000	318,386	127,186
Dec 31, 2015	81,704	320,739	127,034
Dec 31, 2016	82,366	323,072	126,857
Dec 31, 2017	82,674	325,122	126,631
Dec 31, 2018	82,923	326,838	126,368
Dec 31, 2019	83,110	328,330	126,092
Dec 31, 2020	83,178	331,512	125,634
Dec 31, 2021	83,213	332,032	125,427
Dec 31, 2022	83,811	333,288	124,762

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

Germany

1500-1850: Pfister, U. (2022). Economic Growth in Germany, 1500–1850. The Journal of Economic History, 82(4), 1071–1107
1850-1950: Hoffmann, Grumbach and Hesse, op. cit., pp. 454-5.

United States

1650 - 1790: McCusker, John J., ‘Colonial Statistics’, Historical Statistics of the United States: Earliest Time to the Present, in S. B. Carter, S. S. Gartner, M. R. Haineset al. New York, Cambridge University Press. V-671.
1790 - 1870: Sutch, R. (2006). National Income and Product. Historical Statistics of the United States: Earliest Time to the Present, in S. B. Carter, S. S. Gartner, M. R. Haineset al. New York, Cambridge University Press III-23-25.
1800-1830: Prados de la Escosura, L. (2009). “Lost Decades? Economic Performance in Post-Independence Latin America,” Journal of Latin America Studies 41: 279–307. (updated data)
1820-1950: GDP movement from Maddison (1995a), amended for 1820–70 to include income of the indigenous population (taken to be $400 per capita in 1820 and 1870).

Japan

724-1874: Bassino, Jean-Pascal & Broadberry, Stephen & Fukao, Kyoji & Gupta, Bishnupriya & Takashima, Masanori, (2018). "Japan and the Great Divergence, 730-1874," CEI Working Paper Series 2018-13, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University
1874-1940: Fukao, K., Bassino, J.-P., Makino, T., Paprzycki, R., Settsu, T., Takashima, M., and Tokui, J. (2015) Regional Inequality and Industrial Structure in Japan: 1874-2008, Tokyo: Maruzen Publishing.