Most of the world's people live in middle-income countries

How does the world's population divide by region and income group? Each row is one economy in 2023, with its World Bank region and income classification.

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Region, then income group, then country

The tree nests each economy inside its income group inside its region, sized by its 2023 population. China and India together held 35.4% of the 2023 population of these 217 economies, a third of the area. Middle-income economies held 73.7% of the people.

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Three regions hold two thirds of the people

Each bar is a region's 2023 population. East Asia and the Pacific alone held 29.4% of the world's 8 billion people, and with South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa the top three regions pass two thirds. North America, with three economies, holds the least.

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Counting economies tells a different story

By count, high-income economies are the largest group: 86 of the 217 economies were classed as high income, 39.6% of the list, but together they hold 17.2% of the people. Sub-Saharan Africa has 48 economies, more than any region but Europe and Central Asia, and a sixth of the people.

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Takeaway

"Most countries" and "most people" are different populations. A chart that counts countries describes a world where high-income economies dominate; a chart weighted by population describes one centered on middle-income Asia.

Limits

Income groups are the World Bank's current classification, applied to every year. Population is the UN estimate for mid-year.