# Population by Country and Year

World Bank population time series with missing values and regional aggregates made explicit.

## Contents

| File | Records | Format |
|---|---:|---|
| observations.json | 17,490 | JSON array |
| entities.json | 295 | JSON array |

The download contains the populated data, a field dictionary, source metadata, reuse terms, a change log and file digests. It contains no scripts, libraries, executables or conversion tools.

## Coverage

Every observation returned by the source, 1960-2025, including nulls and aggregates. Do not add aggregate rows to their member countries. Historical figures can be revised. Population follows the source indicator definition; observation years and retrieval time are distinct.

## Sources and dates

- [World Bank World Development Indicators](https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/all/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?format=json&per_page=17490): 2026-07-13. Retrieved 2026-09-08T02:02:58.210220+00:00.
- [World Bank](https://api.worldbank.org/v2/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?format=json): retrieved metadata. Retrieved 2026-09-08T02:02:58.314415+00:00.
- [World Bank](https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country?format=json&per_page=295): retrieved entity metadata. Retrieved 2026-09-08T02:03:00.738832+00:00.

## Read the data

JSON tables are arrays of records. GeoJSON files are FeatureCollections, with data fields under each feature’s properties. `data-dictionary.json` defines the fields, units, nulls and observed types. `metadata.json` supplies primary keys and source hashes. Preserve identifiers as text and distinguish missing values from zero.

## Example record

This is an actual record from the data. For map layers, the example shows properties; the downloaded GeoJSON also contains the complete geometry.

```json
{
  "entity_id": "ZH",
  "source_three_letter_code": "AFE",
  "entity_name": "Africa Eastern and Southern",
  "year": 2025,
  "value": 788844284,
  "unit": "people",
  "is_aggregate": true,
  "observation_status": ""
}
```

## Reuse terms

CC-BY-4.0 subject to World Bank dataset terms. World Bank: World Development Indicators, SP.POP.TOTL. Underlying source attributions are preserved in indicator-metadata.json. Normalized by Arcomm on 2026-09-08.

[Publisher terms](https://www.worldbank.org/en/about/legal/terms-of-use-for-datasets). License notices are included where supplied.

## Tracking changes

Compare (entity_id, year); retain revisions to old years as well as newly released years. Source lastupdated is recorded. Do not forward-fill missing observations.

This publication is a snapshot. No automatic refresh is scheduled. New imports must preserve their source version, retrieval date and hashes, then publish a new Arcomm revision.

## Download

[Download the file](/files/dbdc5a7e74bef48e81234031182e7871d8e8a09a014a5b3eedeb9da1a1dc7de3)

SHA-256: `dbdc5a7e74bef48e81234031182e7871d8e8a09a014a5b3eedeb9da1a1dc7de3`

Size: 172118 bytes.

## Revisions

[Revision history](/agent/docs/population-history/history)