How Populations Have Changed in the Americas Since 1990

OMG, the whole place is infested with people who breed like rabbits.

On the other hand, most of Europe, China and Japan is suffering a demographic meltdown. Their populations are about to fall with too many old folks to take care of and too few young people to do the work.

How Populations Have Changed in the Americas Since 1990

By Pallavi Rao, Visual Capitalist

Sept 5, 2024

Currently more than one billion people live in the Americas, an area with 35 countries and many overseas territories and dependencies.

This color-coded map shows population changes by country in the Americas from 1990 to 2023. Data was sourced from the 2024 World Population Prospects from the UN.

Importantly the graphic only includes sovereign states. Furthermore, some country labels have been skipped for legibility. The full data, including full population figures, can be found in the next section’s table.

Three Decades of Population Boom

The top 14 largest countries in the Americas by population size have all seen nearly 40% population growth between 1990–2023.

Only sovereign states included. Population changes measured between July 1st 1990–2023. Figures rounded.

What does this mean in actual people? For the top three by size: the U.S. gained 90 million residents, while Brazil and Mexico added 62 million and 42 million, respectively.

Ranked 10th by population, Guatemala more than doubled its residents from 9 million to 18 million in 2023. However it still doesn’t take the crown for largest percentage growth, which belongs to Belize (+125%).

In fact, only three countries in the Americas registered single-digit percentage gains: Cuba, Uruguay, and Barbados.

Has the Americas’ Population Fallen Anywhere Since 1990?

Of the list with only sovereign states, only Dominica (-4%) and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (-10%) saw their number of residents fall.

However, some overseas territories and dependencies not pictured in this map also saw declines.

In fact, every U.S. territory—including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam—has been losing people since 2010, a swift departure from the 20th century when populations were expanding. A Washington Post analysis found that many of the same troubles ailing rural America (manufacturing decline, falling birth rates, and brain drain) are besetting U.S. territories as well.