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

Add a country

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 GermanyChinaSouth Korea
81,4391,248,89946,617
81,4741,258,40147,008
81,5341,267,17847,370
81,5951,275,37947,645
81,5661,283,06447,892
81,4731,290,62048,083
81,3541,298,24548,185
81,1901,305,11648,438
81,0091,311,87748,684
80,7811,318,55949,055
80,5001,324,99349,308
80,3011,331,35749,554
80,2921,339,54949,937
80,4431,349,53750,200
80,6631,357,52050,429
81,0001,366,65450,747
81,7041,373,40651,015
82,3661,382,40151,218
82,6741,390,13651,362
82,9231,395,39851,585
83,1101,400,03551,765
83,1781,402,06051,836
83,2131,402,53751,745
83,8111,401,69351,731

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.

China

  • 1000-1661: Broadberry, S.N., Guan, Hanhui and David Daokui Li (2018), “China, Europe and the Great Divergence: a Study in Historical National Accounting, 980-1850”, Journal of Economic History, 78, 4, 955-1000
  • 1661–1933: Broadberry, S.N., Guan, Hanhui and David Daokui Li (2018), “China, Europe and the Great Divergence: a Study in Historical National Accounting, 980-1850”, Journal of Economic History, 78, 4, 955-1000
  • 1661–1933: Xu, Y. Z. Shi, B. van Leeuwen, Y Ni, Z Zhang, and Y Ma, (2016) 'Chinese National Income, ca. 1661-1933', Australian Economic History Review 57(3), 368–393
  • 1952–2008: Wu, Harry X. (2014), “China’s growth and productivity performance debate revisited – Accounting for China’s sources of growth with a new data set” The Conference Board Economics Program Working Paper Series EWP#14-01.

South Korea

  • 1911-1990: Cha, M.S., Kim, N.N., Park, K.-J., Park, Y. (Eds.) (2020), Historical Statistics of Korea. Studies in Economic History, New York: Springer Publishing
  • 1820, 1870: Maddison, A. Monitoring the World Economy, 1995