The continent of Asia covers 29.4% of the Earth's land area and has a population of around 4.75 billion, accounting for about 60% of the world population. The combined population of both China and India is estimated to be over 2.8 billion people. Asia's population is projected to grow to 5.25 billion by 2055, or about 54% of projected world population at that time. Population growth in Asia was close to 0.55% p.a., with highly disparate rates. Many Western Asian and South Asian countries have growth rates far above the world average, notably Pakistan at 2% p.a., and India with a 0.6% increase in 2022. On the other hand, East Asian nations are in the middle of a demographic stagnation, with China experiencing a small decrease of –0.06%, after years of rapidly slowing growth.

Population

History

Population of Asia, 1–1820 AD (in millions)

Source: Maddison et al.

Shares of world population, Asia, 1–1998 AD (percent of world total)

Source: Maddison et al.

Countries ranking by international organisations

Economy

Economically, most of Asia is traditionally considered part of the Second World, with the significant exception of the industrialized First World countries of Israel, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Asian countries in the G-20 major economies include China, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Of these, Japan is also in the G8, and additionally China and India in the G8+5. The Human Development Index of Asian countries range from Low to Very High category. The table below shows the 10 highest and lowest countries according to their Human Development Index scores based on the 2021 report. 10 highest HDIs 10 lowest HDIs

Ethnicities