Data Viz

Population Paths — Countries Walking the Same Road, Decades Apart

Pick a country and see which countries passed through the same shape, and when; move the year and watch the points travel the same road

How to read this

Nearby dots have similarly shaped population curves over the previous 30 years.

Only the shape of total population is compared. Size, age structure, society, and economy are not included.

Longer paths mean larger changes in curve shape. Sharp turns may coincide with war, policy shifts, or large movements of people.

The axes are two directions derived mechanically from 236 countries’ curves across 121 years. Instead of numeric ticks, curves at the four corners show the shape found there.

2024 (projected)

Paths traced by population curves

236 countries · 6 regions · at least No limit people in 2024 · positions in 2024

Filter which countries are shown
Japan 1 / 5
30-year curves at the four cornersA country in this corner has this 30-year shape. These examples are calculated from the data, not curves of real countries.
Keeps growing to a new high
Recently turned and nearly flat
Falls, then returns to a high (almost no country has this shape)
Keeps declining
198019902000201020202030204020502070210019802100Japan
JapanAsia
Population this year123.8M Peak index97 Population peak2009 Distance traveled, 1980→2100
Africa (58)Asia (51)Europe (49)Latin America & Caribbean (50)Northern America (5)Oceania (23)
Observed windowObserved + projectedProjected windowDots keep their region color when selected; a series-colored ring and path show selection.
Dot size (2024 population) Under 1M1M+100M+
30-year curves at the four cornersA country in this corner has this 30-year shape. These examples are calculated from the data, not curves of real countries.
Keeps growing to a new high
Recently turned and nearly flat
Falls, then returns to a high (almost no country has this shape)
Keeps declining

Similar countries

Which countries, and when, had shapes closest to Japan in 2024

Small countries and areas are included; use the population floor to see how this changes. † marks a projected year.

Population curves for selected countries

Each country’s 1950–2100 peak = 100 · 2024. The band is the 30-year window used for its position.

Vertical axis
19501980202320502100020406080100

Source & data notes

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024

License: United Nations Terms of Use · Retrieved: 2026-07-22

Medium variant. Total population from 1950–2100 is normalized within each trailing 30-year window (maximum = 1), then projected onto one PCA basis fitted once across every country and year. The horizontal axis explains 87.6% of variance and the vertical axis 11.0%; the remaining 1.4% is lost in the 2D projection. Regions follow WPP Geographic regions.

Kosovo is excluded because it has no ISO 3166-1 code.