Countries by Population, male

Ranking 2024

Analysis

This metric counts the total male population in each country. The source definition states that male population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all male residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. Values are reported as absolute counts. The dataset covers 216 countries, all with data from within the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. The reference year is 2024. Twenty extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold, reflecting the enormous range in country sizes. The ranking spans values from 4,936 to 748,323,427, a spread of over 15 million percent.

The top of the ranking is dominated by the most populous nations overall. India leads at 748,323,427 (rank 1), followed by China at 717,753,173 (rank 2). The United States ranks third at 170,880,836, well below the top two. Indonesia (rank 4, 142,407,916) and Pakistan (rank 5, 127,433,406) round out the top five. Nigeria ranks sixth at 117,673,771 and is the highest-ranked African country. Brazil at rank 7 (104,295,118) is the only South American country in the top ten. Countries at the top of this ranking tend to have large overall populations, as total male population is closely tied to national population size.

The middle of the ranking shows considerable variation. Germany ranks 19th at 41,241,620, while Australia, a much larger country by land area, ranks 55th at 13,494,616. Saudi Arabia ranks 37th at 21,369,165, with a notably high male population relative to its total population, a pattern also visible in the United Arab Emirates at rank 76 with 7,020,466 males and Qatar at rank 129 with 2,037,072 males. These figures reflect high proportions of male migrant workers recorded under the de facto definition. At the lower end, small island states and territories cluster near the bottom, with Tuvalu last at 4,936 males and Nauru second-to-last at 6,083.

The de facto definition counts all male residents regardless of legal status or citizenship, which means countries with large temporary or migrant male populations may rank higher than their citizen population would suggest. Conversely, countries that have experienced significant male emigration may appear lower than their native-born figures would indicate. The data does not distinguish between citizens, permanent residents, and temporary workers. Reporting methodologies can vary across countries, and some values may be based on projections or estimates rather than recent censuses, which can introduce uncertainty, particularly in countries with limited statistical capacity.

Methodology

Data is drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SP.POP.TOTL.MA.IN, for the reference year 2024. The metric is defined as follows: male population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all male residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. Values are absolute counts of male residents. The dataset covers 216 countries, all of which have data from within the last seven years (100% recency). All 216 countries have data for the latest year (2024), and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. Twenty extreme outliers were detected using a 3-standard-deviation threshold. The average year-over-year change across the dataset is 1.5%, indicating low volatility. The value range spans from 4,936 (Tuvalu) to 748,323,427 (India), a spread of approximately 15,160,423%.

Sources

• World Bank