Population, long-run history: compare countries

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

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

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Population, long-run history by country

Annual, Persons, thousands

Source: Maddison Project Database 2023

Population, long-run history: latest observations by country
Date	North Korea	United States	Germany
Dec 31, 1999	22,594	279,040	81,439
Dec 31, 2000	22,785	282,162	81,474
Dec 31, 2001	22,977	284,969	81,534
Dec 31, 2002	23,165	287,625	81,595
Dec 31, 2003	23,330	290,108	81,566
Dec 31, 2004	23,477	292,805	81,473
Dec 31, 2005	23,621	295,517	81,354
Dec 31, 2006	23,764	298,380	81,190
Dec 31, 2007	23,908	301,231	81,009
Dec 31, 2008	24,051	304,094	80,781
Dec 31, 2009	24,191	306,772	80,500
Dec 31, 2010	24,326	309,327	80,301
Dec 31, 2011	24,457	311,583	80,292
Dec 31, 2012	24,589	313,878	80,443
Dec 31, 2013	24,720	316,060	80,663
Dec 31, 2014	24,852	318,386	81,000
Dec 31, 2015	24,983	320,739	81,704
Dec 31, 2016	25,115	323,072	82,366
Dec 31, 2017	25,248	325,122	82,674
Dec 31, 2018	25,381	326,838	82,923
Dec 31, 2019	25,497	328,330	83,110
Dec 31, 2020	25,608	331,512	83,178
Dec 31, 2021	25,711	332,032	83,213
Dec 31, 2022	25,808	333,288	83,811

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

North Korea

1911-1940: 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.
1990-2011: 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.

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).

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.