Mapped: The Share of Each Country’s Population Under 18

Mapped: The Share of Each Country’s Population Under 18

• The Central African Republic has the world’s highest share of population under 18, at 56.2%.
• African countries account for 28 of the top 30 entries, reflecting the continent’s comparatively high fertility rates and young age structure.
• Children make up less than 15% of the population in several East Asian economies, including South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore.

This graphic, created by Iswardi Ishak, maps the share of each country’s population under age 18 in 2025, based on data from the UN Population Division Data Portal.

Africa Has the World’s Youngest Populations

The table below shows the share of children in national populations, according to the UN Population Division.

Rank	Country/Territory	% of Children in Population (under 18)
1	Central African Republic	56.2
2	Niger	53.3
3	Somalia	53.0
4	Mali	52.9
5	Chad	52.7
6	Democratic Republic of the Congo	52.5
7	Burundi	51.4
8	Mozambique	51.1
9	Angola	50.8
10	Uganda	50.2
11	Mayotte	49.7
12	Afghanistan	49.4
13	Mauritania	49.2
14	Tanzania	49.0
15	Burkina Faso	48.3
16	Zambia	47.9
17	Benin	47.8
18	Cameroon	47.8
19	Zimbabwe	47.5
20	Nigeria	47.5
21	Malawi	47.4
22	Yemen	47.3
23	Guinea	47.3
24	Côte d'Ivoire	47.2
25	Sudan	46.8
26	Congo	46.8
27	Gambia	46.6
28	Liberia	46.1
29	South Sudan	45.9
30	Togo	45.8
31	Madagascar	45.5
32	Ethiopia	45.4
33	Guinea-Bissau	45.0
34	Eritrea	44.8
35	Samoa	44.7
36	Senegal	44.5
37	Sao Tome and Principe	44.4
38	Sierra Leone	44.3
39	Republic of Naoero	44.2
40	Vanuatu	44.2
41	State of Palestine	44.0
42	Rwanda	43.6
43	Kenya	43.4
44	Comoros	43.1
45	Equatorial Guinea	43.1
46	Pakistan	42.9
47	Solomon Islands	42.8
48	Iraq	42.5
49	Namibia	42.5
50	Gabon	42.1
51	Tonga	41.9
52	Marshall Islands	41.8
53	Tajikistan	41.7
54	Ghana	41.7
55	Lesotho	40.5
56	Kiribati	40.4
57	Timor-Leste	39.6
58	Eswatini	39.3
59	Papua New Guinea	39.1
60	Tuvalu	38.6
61	Micronesia (Fed. States of)	37.8
62	Botswana	37.6
63	Kyrgyzstan	37.5
64	Egypt	37.3
65	Guatemala	37.1
66	Mongolia	37.1
67	French Guiana	36.8
68	Haiti	36.8
69	Jordan	36.4
70	Uzbekistan	36.2
71	Turkmenistan	36.1
72	Honduras	36.1
73	Lao People's Democratic Republic	35.5
74	Syrian Arab Republic	35.5
75	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	35.1
76	Cambodia	35.1
77	Algeria	35.0
78	Djibouti	34.6
79	Guyana	34.3
80	Kazakhstan	34.2
81	Nicaragua	34.0
82	Nepal	33.9
83	Paraguay	33.5
84	Bangladesh	33.4
85	Philippines	33.1
86	American Samoa	32.5
87	Libya	32.4
88	Fiji	32.2
89	Israel	32.1
90	Belize	31.6
91	Tokelau	31.6
92	Dominican Republic	31.4
93	Lebanon	31.2
94	South Africa	30.8
95	Venezuela	30.7
96	Suriname	30.5
97	Morocco	30.4
98	Guam	30.3
99	Cabo Verde	30.3
100	El Salvador	29.7
101	Panama	29.4
102	India	29.4
103	Cook Islands	29.4
104	Indonesia	29.2
105	Mexico	29.2
106	Ecuador	29.2
107	Myanmar	28.9
108	Peru	28.6
109	Tunisia	28.2
110	Oman	28.0
111	Saudi Arabia	28.0
112	Niue	27.9
113	Viet Nam	27.4
114	Western Sahara	27.2
115	Northern Mariana Islands	26.7
116	Sri Lanka	26.4
117	Iran	26.3
118	Azerbaijan	25.9
119	Malaysia	25.9
120	Argentina	25.8
121	Saint Martin (French part)	25.7
122	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	25.5
123	Türkiye	25.4
124	New Caledonia	25.4
125	Bhutan	25.3
126	Kosovo (under UNSC res. 1244)	25.1
127	Réunion	25.1
128	Wallis and Futuna Islands	24.8
129	Brunei Darussalam	24.6
130	Greenland	24.6
131	Georgia	24.6
132	Colombia	24.3
133	Faroe Islands	23.9
134	Seychelles	23.5
135	Brazil	23.5
136	Grenada	23.5
137	Republic of Moldova	23.5
138	Maldives	23.2
139	French Polynesia	23.1
140	Armenia	23.0
141	Jamaica	22.8
142	Saint Barthélemy	22.7
143	Dem. People's Rep. of Korea	22.6
144	Costa Rica	22.5
145	Ireland	22.3
146	Palau	22.0
147	Uruguay	22.0
148	Saint Kitts and Nevis	21.9
149	Bahamas	21.8
150	Montenegro	21.8
151	New Zealand	21.8
152	Antigua and Barbuda	21.8
153	Bahrain	21.7
154	Dominica	21.6
155	Kuwait	21.6
156	Iceland	21.4
157	Australia	21.4
158	Saint Lucia	21.3
159	Trinidad and Tobago	21.3
160	Gibraltar	21.2
161	United States of America	21.0
162	Barbados	21.0
163	United Kingdom	20.6
164	Russian Federation	20.6
165	Anguilla	20.5
166	Aruba	20.3
167	Sweden	20.3
168	Chile	20.3
169	Albania	20.1
170	North Macedonia	20.1
171	United States Virgin Islands	20.0
172	Montserrat	19.9
173	France	19.9
174	Guadeloupe	19.8
175	Norway	19.6
176	Belarus	19.4
177	Turks and Caicos Islands	19.4
178	Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	19.3
179	Cayman Islands	19.3
180	Belgium	19.3
181	Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba	19.1
182	China	19.1
183	Cyprus	19.1
184	Romania	19.0
185	Denmark	19.0
186	Luxembourg	18.9
187	Estonia	18.8
188	Slovakia	18.8
189	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	18.7
190	Latvia	18.6
191	United Arab Emirates	18.5
192	Czechia	18.5
193	Cuba	18.3
194	Canada	18.3
195	Martinique	18.2
196	Mauritius	18.2
197	Netherlands	18.2
198	British Virgin Islands	18.1
199	Curaçao	18.0
200	Thailand	17.9
201	Switzerland	17.9
202	Poland	17.8
203	Finland	17.8
204	Slovenia	17.7
205	Bulgaria	17.6
206	Lithuania	17.6
207	Hungary	17.4
208	Isle of Man	17.4
209	Qatar	17.3
210	Jersey	17.3
211	Serbia	17.2
212	Ukraine	17.2
213	Liechtenstein	17.2
214	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	17.1
215	Austria	17.0
216	Croatia	17.0
217	Guernsey	16.9
218	Germany	16.6
219	Bermuda	16.6
220	Saint Helena	16.5
221	Monaco	16.2
222	China, Macao SAR	16.2
223	Greece	16.1
224	Bosnia and Herzegovina	15.9
225	Spain	15.8
226	Portugal	15.6
227	Malta	15.5
228	San Marino	15.1
229	Andorra	14.8
230	Italy	14.6
231	Puerto Rico	14.5
232	Singapore	14.4
233	China, Taiwan Province of China	14.0
234	Japan	14.0
235	Republic of Korea	12.9
236	China, Hong Kong SAR	12.6

The Central African Republic leads at 56.2%, followed by Niger (53.3%), Somalia (53.0%), Mali (52.9%), and Chad (52.7%). At the other end of the spectrum, Hong Kong SAR is lowest in the full dataset at 12.6%, while South Korea ranks lowest among countries at 12.9%.

Africa’s dominance at the top is striking: 28 of the top 30 entries are African, with Afghanistan and Yemen the only exceptions. Higher fertility rates have helped produce this youthful age structure. Research on larger African families points to factors including differences in desired family size and the pace of fertility decline.

Many of these countries have also experienced rapid population growth, a pattern visible among the world’s fastest-growing populations since 2000.

East Asia Faces the Opposite Demographic Challenge

South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore all have children accounting for less than 15% of their populations. East Asia’s falling birth rates have been linked to factors including high childcare costs, demanding work cultures, and changing attitudes toward marriage and parenthood.

A smaller child population can eventually mean fewer workers entering the labor force as older populations grow. This is particularly significant as senior populations continue to expand in many economies.

Countries with large child populations face a different challenge: expanding schools, healthcare, housing, and eventually employment quickly enough to meet demand. If those investments keep pace, today’s large youth cohorts could become a significant source of future workforce growth.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To see how these demographic forces could reshape the United States, check out Mapped: U.S. Population Growth and Decline by 2040 on the Voronoi app.