Most people know that China and India have very large populations, but it is useful to pause and think about just how large they are and how they compare to Canada’s population.

Long the world’s most populous country, China’s tally of 1.42 billion residents was recently* surpassed by India’s at almost 1.44 billion people.

Together, China and India were home to about a third of the global population last year compared to 4% living in the United States (the world’s third largest country) and just 0.5% living in Canada.

Put another way, China’s population is about 36 times larger than Canada’s and India’s is about 37 times larger.

Unlike Canada and India which are growing at a good clip, China has entered a long period of population decline (albeit from a very large starting point).

Over the last decade, China’s population grew at an average of 0.3% per year versus 1.1% in Canada and 1.0% in India.

According to the United Nations, “India’s population is virtually certain to continue to grow for several decades. By contrast, China’s population reached its peak size recently and experienced a decline during 2022 [and 2023]. Projections indicate that the size of the Chinese population will continue to fall and could drop below 1 billion before the end of the century.”

There are 5 billion people living outside China and India, but the fact that so many people are concentrated in just two political units highlights their importance to the global economy and its ongoing evolution.

*Population estimates vary with regard to exactly when India surpassed China with some saying it was in 2022 and others in 2023. The source used by the handy website Our World in Data is the 2024 Revision of the World Population Prospects published by the United Nations.

Answer to the previous trivia question: On this day in 1987, 24 countries signed an agreement in Montreal to reduce the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) to prevent further damage to the Earth’s ozone layer.

Today’s trivia question: Which country has the larger land area: China or India?