How many children under 5 worldwide?

Data Visualization

A compact reference for global age-group population totals from the UN World Population Prospects 2024 mid-year estimates.

Author

Yang Liu

Published

December 13, 2024

I wanted a quick reference for common child and youth age-group totals, so I summarized the UN World Population Prospects (WPP) 2024 mid-year estimates.

World population: In 2024, the world population is estimated at 8.2 billion (8,162 million). It is projected to peak in 2084 at 10.3 billion.

Children under age 5: The number of children under 5 is 647 million in 2024. This figure peaked in 2017 at 698 million and is projected to decline to 550 million by 2100.

Children aged 0-14: The population aged 0-14 peaked in 2020 and stands at 2.0 billion in 2024.

Children and adolescents under age 18: The population aged 0-17 peaked in 2022 and stands at 2.4 billion (2,413 million) in 2024.

Children and adolescents under age 20: The population aged 0-19 is 2.7 billion (2,668 million) in 2024, which is the peak year for this age group.

Population under age 25: The population aged 0-24 is 3.3 billion in 2024. It is projected to increase slightly and peak in 2030.

World population under ages 5, 10, 15, 18, 20, and 25 (millions)

Population	Age Group	2015	2020	2025	2030	2050	2100
Under 5 years old	0-4	696	683	644	645	656	550
Under 10 years old	0-9	1,358	1,374	1,321	1,283	1,316	1,110
Under 15 years old	0-14	1,988	2,035	2,008	1,958	1,969	1,681
Under 18 years old	0-17	2,355	2,413	2,409	2,370	2,357	2,030
Under 20 years old	0-19	2,597	2,662	2,667	2,643	2,613	2,265
Under 25 years old	0-24	3,206	3,267	3,291	3,303	3,251	2,866

The same age groups, by sex

Total world population

Source: World Population Prospects (WPP) 2024. Population on 1 July, by single-year age group.

--- title: "How many children under 5 worldwide?" author: "Yang Liu" date: "2024-12-13" description: "A compact reference for global age-group population totals from the UN World Population Prospects 2024 mid-year estimates." categories: - "Data Visualization" page-layout: article execute: freeze: true eval: false resources: - "source.Rmd" - "index_files/**" - "images/**" - "temp/**" - "2024-12-13-how-many-children-under-5-worldwide_files/**" - "*.png" - "*.jpg" - "*.jpeg" - "*.JPG" - "*.PNG" - "*.gif" - "*.svg" - "*.rds" - "*.csv" - "*.xlsx" --- I wanted a quick reference for common child and youth age-group totals, so I summarized the UN World Population Prospects (WPP) 2024 mid-year estimates. World population: In 2024, the world population is estimated at 8.2 billion (8,162 million). It is projected to peak in 2084 at 10.3 billion. Children under age 5: The number of children under 5 is 647 million in 2024. This figure peaked in 2017 at 698 million and is projected to decline to 550 million by 2100. Children aged 0-14: The population aged 0-14 peaked in 2020 and stands at 2.0 billion in 2024. Children and adolescents under age 18: The population aged 0-17 peaked in 2022 and stands at 2.4 billion (2,413 million) in 2024. Children and adolescents under age 20: The population aged 0-19 is 2.7 billion (2,668 million) in 2024, which is the peak year for this age group. Population under age 25: The population aged 0-24 is 3.3 billion in 2024. It is projected to increase slightly and peak in 2030. <img src="index_files/figure-html/unnamed-chunk-2-1.png" width="960" /> World population under ages 5, 10, 15, 18, 20, and 25 (millions) <table> <colgroup> <col width="29%" /> <col width="15%" /> <col width="9%" /> <col width="9%" /> <col width="9%" /> <col width="9%" /> <col width="9%" /> <col width="9%" /> </colgroup> <thead> <tr class="header"> <th align="left">Population</th> <th align="left">Age Group</th> <th align="left">2015</th> <th align="left">2020</th> <th align="left">2025</th> <th align="left">2030</th> <th align="left">2050</th> <th align="left">2100</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr class="odd"> <td align="left">Under 5 years old</td> <td align="left">0-4</td> <td align="left">696</td> <td align="left">683</td> <td align="left">644</td> <td align="left">645</td> <td align="left">656</td> <td align="left">550</td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td align="left">Under 10 years old</td> <td align="left">0-9</td> <td align="left">1,358</td> <td align="left">1,374</td> <td align="left">1,321</td> <td align="left">1,283</td> <td align="left">1,316</td> <td align="left">1,110</td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td align="left">Under 15 years old</td> <td align="left">0-14</td> <td align="left">1,988</td> <td align="left">2,035</td> <td align="left">2,008</td> <td align="left">1,958</td> <td align="left">1,969</td> <td align="left">1,681</td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td align="left">Under 18 years old</td> <td align="left">0-17</td> <td align="left">2,355</td> <td align="left">2,413</td> <td align="left">2,409</td> <td align="left">2,370</td> <td align="left">2,357</td> <td align="left">2,030</td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td align="left">Under 20 years old</td> <td align="left">0-19</td> <td align="left">2,597</td> <td align="left">2,662</td> <td align="left">2,667</td> <td align="left">2,643</td> <td align="left">2,613</td> <td align="left">2,265</td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td align="left">Under 25 years old</td> <td align="left">0-24</td> <td align="left">3,206</td> <td align="left">3,267</td> <td align="left">3,291</td> <td align="left">3,303</td> <td align="left">3,251</td> <td align="left">2,866</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> The same age groups, by sex <img src="index_files/figure-html/unnamed-chunk-4-1.png" width="960" /> Total world population <img src="index_files/figure-html/unnamed-chunk-5-1.png" width="960" /> Source: <a href="https://population.un.org/wpp/downloads?folder=Standard%20Projections&group=CSV%20format">World Population Prospects (WPP) 2024</a>. Population on 1 July, by single-year age group.