Nepal: population and ages

In mid-1950 there were 8.4 million people, so the population is now 3.5 times as large.

The UN projects 542,000 births and 207,000 deaths in 2026, 335,000 more births than deaths.

The UN projects the first year with more deaths than births in 2070.

More people leave than move in: net migration in 2026 is projected at minus 292,000.

The median age is 25.7, which is 5.4 years below the world’s 31.1.

28% of the people are under 15 and 6.7% are 65 or older (world: 24% and 11%).

The UN projects that people aged 65 and over will outnumber children under 15 from 2066.

Women have 1.9 children on average at today’s rates (world: 2.2), against 6.1 in 1950.

Life expectancy at birth is 71.2 years, below the world’s 73.8. In 1950 it was 37.6.

For mid-2050 the UN projects 34.6 million people, 17% more than now, with a median age of 35.0.

By the death rates of 2023, life expectancy at birth was 70.4 years. People who had reached 65 could expect 14.6 more years for women and 13.1 for men.

On 1 January 2026, there are 10.2 people aged 65 or more for every 100 aged 15 to 64. For 2050, the UN projects 15.7.

For 2100 the UN projects a population of 31.8 million, with a 95 percent prediction interval of 10.9 million to 63.3 million.

Life expectancy at birth is a period measure. It sums up the death rates of one year and is not a forecast of how long the babies born that year will live.

In mid-2024, 471,000 international migrants lived here, 1.6% of the population.

In mid-2024, 2.64 million people from here lived in other countries.