Countries with Youngest Population (2026)

Central African Republic has the youngest population in the world with 49.0% of its people under the age of 15. Countries with young populations face unique challenges including education investment needs and future job creation, but also have a potential demographic dividend as their workforce grows.

#1

Central African Republic

49.0%

#2

Niger

46.6%

#3

Somalia

46.6%

Countries with Youngest Population - 216 countries ranked by % Under 15

Rank	Country	% Under 15	Population	Region
1	Central African Republic	49.0%	6,470,307	Africa
2	Niger	46.6%	26,312,034	Africa
3	Somalia	46.6%	19,655,000	Africa
4	Mali	46.1%	22,395,489	Africa
5	Chad	46.1%	19,340,757	Africa
6	DR Congo	46.0%	112,832,000	Africa
7	Burundi	44.7%	12,332,788	Africa
8	Mozambique	44.5%	34,090,466	Africa
9	Angola	44.4%	36,170,961	Africa
10	Uganda	43.5%	45,905,417	Africa
11	Afghanistan	42.9%	43,844,000	Asia
12	Mauritania	42.7%	4,927,532	Africa
13	Tanzania	42.5%	68,153,004	Africa
14	Burkina Faso	41.8%	24,070,553	Africa
15	Benin	41.5%	13,224,860	Africa
16	Zambia	41.5%	19,693,423	Africa
17	Cameroon	41.4%	29,442,327	Africa
18	Yemen	41.1%	32,684,503	Asia
19	Nigeria	41.0%	223,800,000	Africa
20	Guinea	40.9%	14,363,931	Africa
21	Ivory Coast	40.9%	31,719,275	Africa
22	Zimbabwe	40.9%	17,073,087	Africa
23	Malawi	40.7%	20,734,262	Africa
24	Sudan	40.5%	51,662,000	Africa
25	Republic of the Congo	40.5%	6,142,180	Africa
26	Gambia	40.3%	2,422,712	Africa
27	Togo	39.5%	8,095,498	Africa
28	Liberia	39.5%	5,248,621	Africa
29	Madagascar	39.3%	31,727,042	Africa
30	Ethiopia	39.1%	111,652,998	Africa
31	South Sudan	38.9%	15,786,898	Africa
32	Guinea-Bissau	38.8%	1,781,308	Africa
33	Samoa	38.5%	205,557	Oceania
34	Vanuatu	38.3%	321,409	Oceania
35	Senegal	38.2%	18,593,258	Africa
36	Eritrea	38.1%	3,607,000	Africa
37	Sierra Leone	38.1%	9,077,691	Africa
38	Palestine	38.0%	5,483,450	Asia
39	São Tomé and Príncipe	37.8%	209,607	Africa
40	Nauru	37.8%	11,680	Oceania
41	Rwanda	37.4%	14,104,969	Africa
42	Equatorial Guinea	37.3%	1,668,768	Africa
43	Comoros	37.1%	919,901	Africa
44	Namibia	37.0%	3,022,401	Africa
45	Solomon Islands	37.0%	750,325	Oceania
46	Kenya	36.8%	53,330,978	Africa
47	Pakistan	36.7%	241,499,431	Asia
48	Iraq	36.6%	46,118,793	Asia
49	Gabon	36.5%	2,469,296	Africa
50	Tajikistan	36.3%	10,499,000	Asia
51	Ghana	35.8%	33,742,380	Africa
52	Tonga	35.4%	100,179	Oceania
53	Kiribati	34.7%	120,740	Oceania
54	Lesotho	34.5%	2,116,427	Africa
55	Marshall Islands	34.5%	42,418	Oceania
56	Timor-Leste	33.7%	1,391,221	Asia
57	Papua New Guinea	33.5%	11,781,559	Oceania
58	Eswatini	33.4%	1,235,549	Africa
59	Tuvalu	33.0%	10,643	Oceania
60	Kyrgyzstan	32.3%	7,281,800	Asia
61	Mongolia	32.2%	3,544,835	Asia
62	Botswana	32.1%	2,359,609	Africa
63	Egypt	32.0%	107,271,260	Africa
64	Micronesia	31.9%	105,564	Oceania
65	Guatemala	31.6%	18,079,810	Americas
66	Turkmenistan	31.5%	7,057,841	Asia
67	Haiti	31.2%	11,867,032	Americas
68	Uzbekistan	31.1%	37,859,698	Asia
69	Jordan	30.7%	11,734,000	Asia
70	Honduras	30.6%	9,892,632	Americas
71	Algeria	30.3%	47,400,000	Africa
72	Laos	30.2%	7,647,000	Asia
73	Cambodia	29.8%	17,577,760	Asia
74	Bolivia	29.8%	11,365,333	Americas
75	Kazakhstan	29.4%	20,426,568	Asia
76	Djibouti	29.2%	1,066,809	Africa
77	Syria	29.2%	25,620,000	Asia
78	Guyana	29.2%	772,975	Americas
79	Nicaragua	28.8%	6,803,886	Americas
80	Paraguay	28.6%	6,109,644	Americas
81	Nepal	28.4%	29,911,840	Asia
82	Bangladesh	28.0%	169,828,911	Asia
83	Philippines	27.9%	114,123,600	Asia
84	Israel	27.4%	10,134,800	Asia
85	Libya	27.4%	7,459,000	Africa
86	Fiji	27.1%	900,869	Oceania
87	American Samoa	27.0%	49,710	Oceania
88	Dominican Republic	26.6%	10,771,504	Americas
89	Belize	26.6%	417,634	Americas
90	Lebanon	26.2%	5,490,000	Asia
91	Guam	26.0%	153,836	Oceania
92	South Africa	25.9%	63,100,945	Africa
93	Suriname	25.6%	616,500	Americas
94	Morocco	25.6%	36,828,330	Africa
95	Cape Verde	25.6%	491,233	Africa
96	Venezuela	25.5%	28,517,000	Americas
97	Panama	24.9%	4,064,780	Americas
98	El Salvador	24.8%	6,029,976	Americas
99	Oman	24.7%	5,343,630	Asia
100	India	24.6%	1,417,492,000	Asia
101	Indonesia	24.6%	284,438,782	Asia
102	Mexico	24.5%	130,575,786	Americas
103	Ecuador	24.5%	18,103,660	Americas
104	Myanmar	24.3%	51,316,756	Asia
105	Tunisia	24.0%	11,972,169	Africa
106	Peru	24.0%	34,350,244	Americas
107	Saudi Arabia	23.8%	35,300,280	Asia
108	Vietnam	23.2%	101,343,800	Asia
109	Iran	22.4%	85,961,000	Asia
110	Sri Lanka	22.0%	21,763,170	Asia
111	Northern Mariana Islands	22.0%	47,329	Oceania
112	Azerbaijan	21.8%	10,241,722	Asia
113	Malaysia	21.8%	34,231,700	Asia
114	Argentina	21.6%	46,735,004	Americas
115	Turkey	21.4%	85,664,944	Asia
116	Saint Martin	21.3%	31,496	Americas
117	New Caledonia	21.3%	264,596	Oceania
118	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	21.3%	110,872	Americas
119	Bhutan	20.9%	784,043	Asia
120	Brunei	20.8%	455,500	Asia
121	Georgia	20.8%	4,000,921	Asia
122	Greenland	20.8%	56,542	Americas
123	Kosovo	20.7%	1,585,566	Europe
124	Colombia	20.3%	53,057,212	Americas
125	Faroe Islands	20.0%	54,885	Europe
126	Seychelles	19.9%	122,729	Africa
127	Moldova	19.8%	2,749,076	Europe
128	Brazil	19.7%	213,421,037	Americas
129	Maldives	19.6%	515,132	Asia
130	Grenada	19.4%	109,021	Americas
131	Armenia	19.2%	3,076,200	Asia
132	French Polynesia	19.1%	279,500	Oceania
133	North Korea	18.9%	25,950,000	Asia
134	Costa Rica	18.8%	5,309,625	Americas
135	Bahrain	18.7%	1,594,654	Asia
136	Jamaica	18.7%	2,825,544	Americas
137	Ireland	18.6%	5,458,600	Europe
138	Uruguay	18.3%	3,499,451	Americas
139	Palau	18.2%	16,733	Oceania
140	Kuwait	18.2%	4,881,254	Asia
141	Saint Kitts and Nevis	18.2%	51,320	Americas
142	Montenegro	18.1%	623,327	Europe
143	New Zealand	18.1%	5,324,700	Oceania
144	Bahamas	17.9%	398,165	Americas
145	Dominica	17.9%	67,408	Americas
146	Australia	17.8%	27,536,874	Oceania
147	Antigua and Barbuda	17.8%	103,603	Americas
148	Trinidad and Tobago	17.8%	1,367,764	Americas
149	Iceland	17.8%	391,810	Europe
150	Gibraltar	17.6%	38,000	Europe
151	Saint Lucia	17.5%	184,100	Americas
152	United States	17.3%	340,110,988	Americas
153	Russia	17.3%	146,028,325	Europe
154	Barbados	17.2%	267,800	Americas
155	United Kingdom	17.2%	69,281,437	Europe
156	Sweden	17.0%	10,605,098	Europe
157	Chile	17.0%	20,206,953	Americas
158	Albania	16.8%	2,363,314	Europe
159	Aruba	16.8%	107,566	Americas
160	North Macedonia	16.8%	1,822,612	Europe
161	France	16.5%	66,351,959	Europe
162	United States Virgin Islands	16.5%	87,146	Americas
163	Belarus	16.3%	9,109,280	Europe
164	Norway	16.2%	5,606,944	Europe
165	Cayman Islands	16.2%	84,738	Americas
166	United Arab Emirates	16.1%	11,294,243	Asia
167	Cyprus	16.1%	1,442,614	Europe
168	Turks and Caicos Islands	16.1%	50,828	Americas
169	China	16.0%	1,408,280,000	Asia
170	Belgium	16.0%	11,825,551	Europe
171	Luxembourg	15.8%	681,973	Europe
172	Slovakia	15.8%	5,413,813	Europe
173	Romania	15.7%	19,036,031	Europe
174	Denmark	15.7%	6,011,488	Europe
175	Estonia	15.6%	1,369,995	Europe
176	Latvia	15.4%	1,829,000	Europe
177	Czechia	15.4%	10,882,341	Europe
178	Cuba	15.3%	9,748,007	Americas
179	Sint Maarten	15.1%	41,349	Americas
180	Canada	15.1%	41,651,653	Americas
181	Qatar	15.1%	3,173,024	Asia
182	Netherlands	15.0%	18,100,436	Europe
183	Switzerland	14.9%	9,082,848	Europe
184	Curaçao	14.9%	156,115	Americas
185	Poland	14.8%	37,392,000	Europe
186	Mauritius	14.8%	1,243,741	Africa
187	Thailand	14.8%	65,859,640	Asia
188	Lithuania	14.7%	2,894,886	Europe
189	Slovenia	14.7%	2,130,638	Europe
190	Finland	14.6%	5,650,325	Europe
191	British Virgin Islands	14.5%	39,471	Americas
192	Bulgaria	14.5%	6,437,360	Europe
193	Hungary	14.4%	9,539,502	Europe
194	Serbia	14.3%	6,567,783	Europe
195	Liechtenstein	14.3%	40,900	Europe
196	Austria	14.2%	9,200,931	Europe
197	Isle of Man	14.2%	84,530	Europe
198	Croatia	13.9%	3,866,233	Europe
199	Germany	13.9%	83,491,249	Europe
200	Macau	13.9%	685,900	Asia
201	Ukraine	13.9%	32,862,000	Europe
202	Bermuda	13.6%	64,055	Americas
203	Monaco	13.5%	38,423	Europe
204	Greece	13.2%	10,400,720	Europe
205	Bosnia and Herzegovina	13.0%	3,422,000	Europe
206	Malta	13.0%	574,250	Europe
207	Spain	12.9%	49,315,949	Europe
208	Portugal	12.8%	10,749,635	Europe
209	San Marino	12.3%	34,132	Europe
210	Italy	11.9%	58,927,633	Europe
211	Andorra	11.9%	88,406	Europe
212	Singapore	11.7%	6,110,200	Asia
213	Puerto Rico	11.6%	3,203,295	Americas
214	Japan	11.4%	123,210,000	Asia
215	South Korea	10.6%	51,159,889	Asia
216	Hong Kong	10.5%	7,527,500	Asia