Global population density

High population density in small countries

The top of the table is dominated by strikingly small states. Macau, Monaco, Singapore, and Hong Kong are all city-states. In other words, states that basically consist of a single city and its surrounding area. Most of these small states are located on strategically important sea routes. Over centuries, they developed into ports, transshipment hubs, or financial centers. Trade and services generated economic appeal early on and attracted workers. Agriculture plays a minor role due to the limited amount of land available. The economy and settlement are focused entirely on urban use, which requires little space but a large workforce. Economic specialization is usually also promoted by politics. It increases the influx of companies and workers through tax incentives and regulatory relief, and further intensifies spatial densification.

However, precisely because of the country's borders, this space cannot expand, which simultaneously leads to a shortage of living space and an explosion in the cost of living. This also applies to Macau and Hong Kong, which are considered special administrative regions of China, but where entry and exit controls are still carried out at the borders and tax laws are changing.

Liechtenstein, on the other hand, is a contrasting example with a barely noticeable population density: the country is known as a financial market, but operates more locally. Instead, there is a lot of agricultural land. The immigration of companies and workers is not encouraged here by excessive tax or regulatory incentives.

Drastic increase in density in low-income countries

What is not apparent in the above snapshot becomes clear upon further examination: in lower-income countries, population density has been rising dramatically for several decades. These countries include Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Nigeria in particular.



Age pyramid in low-income countries


Due to high poverty rates and higher unemployment figures, social systems have developed there since the middle of the last century that differ from those in richer countries. Savings are not considered an essential precautionary measure in these countries because there is simply not enough money available for this purpose. Basic state support in the form of unemployment benefits or social assistance is either non-existent or insufficient. Instead, people rely on having numerous children, whose traditional role is to feed the entire family. The enormous population growth becomes particularly clear when looking at the age pyramids of these countries.

Distortions due to geographical factors

Population density based on land area often provides a misleading picture. Countries such as Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Argentina have huge, almost uninhabited areas. Deserts, high mountains, and steppes are virtually uninhabited, while the population is concentrated in a few urban or agriculturally usable regions. Nationally averaged values therefore underestimate the actual density in urban areas. In Saudi Arabia, for example, large parts of the population live in a few coastal cities such as Jeddah or Riyadh, while vast desert regions remain almost deserted. Similar patterns can be seen in Australia with the Sydney and Melbourne regions, or in Argentina around Buenos Aires.

A purely average view of population density thus obscures the social, infrastructural, and economic burdens of these highly densified centers.