Ranked: The World’s Fastest Shrinking Countries

The World’s Fastest Shrinking Countries and Territories

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Population growth has long been viewed as a sign of prosperity, but the world is beginning to see a new trend: decline.

According to World Bank data, 42 countries and territories are now shrinking, with some experiencing quicker declines than others. In this infographic, we highlight where the fastest contractions are happening, as of 2024.

Data & Discussion

The data for this visualization comes from the World Bank, measuring each country’s annual population growth rates for 2024. Note that the world’s overall population is still rising at an average rate of 1%.

Rank	Country Name	Region	Pop Growth Rate 2024 (%)
1	Kosovo	Europe	-9.69%
2	Saint-Martin	Caribbean	-5.17%
3	Marshall Islands	Pacific/Oceania	-3.35%
4	Moldova	Europe	-2.83%
5	North Macedonia	Europe	-1.97%
6	Northern Mariana Islands	Pacific/Oceania	-1.93%
7	Tuvalu	Pacific/Oceania	-1.75%
8	American Samoa	Pacific/Oceania	-1.60%
9	Albania	Europe	-1.15%
10	Georgia	Europe	-1.13%
11	Monaco	Europe	-0.84%
12	Latvia	Europe	-0.80%
13	Saint Vincent	Caribbean	-0.70%
14	Bosnia & Herzegovina	Europe	-0.66%
15	Sri Lanka	Asia	-0.55%
16	Serbia	Europe	-0.54%
17	Virgin Islands	Caribbean	-0.52%
18	Belarus	Europe	-0.49%
19	Germany	Europe	-0.47%
20	Dominica	Caribbean	-0.46%
21	Japan	Asia	-0.44%
22	Tonga	Pacific/Oceania	-0.40%
23	Cuba	Caribbean	-0.36%
24	Poland	Europe	-0.36%
25	Hungary	Europe	-0.31%
26	Russia	Europe	-0.20%
27	Palau	Pacific/Oceania	-0.18%
28	Greece	Europe	-0.16%
29	Hong Kong SAR	Asia	-0.16%
30	Nepal	Asia	-0.15%
31	China	Asia	-0.12%
32	Mauritius	Africa	-0.12%
33	Bermuda	Caribbean	-0.10%
34	Slovakia	Europe	-0.09%
35	Greenland	North America	-0.05%
36	Thailand	Asia	-0.05%
37	Uruguay	South America	-0.04%
38	Bulgaria	Europe	-0.03%
39	Jamaica	Caribbean	-0.02%
40	Puerto Rico	Caribbean	-0.02%
41	Italy	Europe	-0.01%
42	Isle of Man	Europe	-0.01%
—	Global Average	—	1.00%

Eastern Europe Leads in Population Decline

A significant share of shrinking countries are in Eastern Europe, with Kosovo, Moldova, and North Macedonia seeing the steepest drops.

A major reason for this trend is emigration, the act of leaving one’s country to settle in another.

Eastern Europe has experienced high rates of emigration in recent decades due to wage gaps with Western Europe, as well as EU integration (which creates a legal pathway for labor mobility).

Major Economies Join the List

Another interesting trend is the inclusion of major economies like Germany, Japan, China, and Italy. While their declines are modest, the sheer size of these countries means the demographic shift could have wide-ranging global effects.

Governments are taking action to lift birth rates, but it’s too early to gauge their effectiveness.

In Japan, for instance, the government has launched a Children and Families Agency, a new administrative body that oversees things like child welfare and nursery access. Meanwhile, in China, the government has rolled out a nationwide subsidy of 3,600 yuan (roughly $500) per year for every child under the age of three.

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• Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/worlds-fastest-shrinking-countries-by-population/