Tuvalu Population
Tuvalu had an estimated population of 9,492 in mid-2025 (World Bank), making it the 217th most populous of 217 countries and territories, with 0.00% of everyone alive. The counter above projects that figure forward at the current growth rate of −1.61% a year.
Tuvalu at a glance
How Tuvalu's population is changing
Tuvalu's population is shrinking: −1.61% a year, which works out to about −153 people per year, or −0 a day. Births (22.0 per 1,000) and deaths (9.3 per 1,000) alone would give +1.27% a year; net migration removes about 255 people a year (−2.69%). Roughly one in every 865,510 people on Earth lives in Tuvalu.
Population of Tuvalu since 1960
In 1960, Tuvalu had 5,598 people. By 2025 that was 9,492 — 1.7× larger. The population peaked in 2013 at 11,001 and has declined since. The fastest growth came between 1973 and 1983, when the population rose by 37%.
| Year | Population | Change vs previous row |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 5,598 | — |
| 1970 | 5,663 | +1.2% |
| 1980 | 7,366 | +30.1% |
| 1990 | 8,798 | +19.4% |
| 2000 | 9,544 | +8.5% |
| 2010 | 10,614 | +11.2% |
| 2020 | 10,399 | −2.0% |
| 2025 | 9,492 | −8.7% |
Tuvalu from 1800 to 2100
Modelled estimates put Tuvalu at about 2,499 people in 1800; the UN estimates 9,516 in 2025 (4× 1800) and projects 12,290 for 2100 in its medium scenario.
| Year | Population | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 2,499 | modelled estimate |
| 1850 | 2,888 | modelled estimate |
| 1900 | 3,696 | modelled estimate |
| 1950 | 4,784 | UN estimate |
| 2000 | 9,566 | UN estimate |
| 2025 | 9,516 | UN projection |
| 2050 | 9,802 | UN projection |
| 2075 | 11,409 | UN projection |
| 2100 | 12,290 | UN projection |
Country live/base figures use World Bank estimates; this historical/future chart uses a separate UN series and need not match the World Bank base in overlapping years. Before 1950: HYDE 3.3 / Gapminder reconstructions via Our World in Data — historical modelling, not censuses. 1950–2023: UN World Population Prospects 2024. 2024–2100: UN medium projection. Open the time machine to see the whole map in any year.
Largest listed places in Tuvalu
1 records sorted by displayed base population. Definitions vary (province/administrative unit, UN urban centre or GeoNames settlement); this is not a harmonised city ranking. Shares use World Bank 2025 country population 9,492. Dates and boundaries may differ. Overlapping entities are not summed.
| # | Place | Population | Definition | Share | Source / reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Funafuti | 6,320 | GeoNames settlement | 66.58% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
How Tuvalu compares
| Rank | Country | Population | vs Tuvalu | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #215 |  Palau | 17,663 | +86% | compare → |
| #216 |  Nauru | 12,025 | +27% | compare → |
Compare Tuvalu with any country →
Same region (East Asia & Pacific): China, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand.
Explore around Tuvalu
Nearest countries
Tuvalu has no land border. Closest by distance:
Fiji 933,154 · 98.3× the population · compare
Samoa 219,306 · 23.1× the population · compare
American Samoa 46,029 · 4.8× the population · compare
Kiribati 136,488 · 14.4× the population · compare
In its region
Tuvalu is the 37th most populous of the 37 economies in East Asia & Pacific, holding 0.0% of the region's 2,367,527,180 people.
Rankings featuring Tuvalu
Cities
Funafuti — all Tuvalu's cities on the map.
World population history · The world when you were born · Tuvalu when you were born · Time machine · Embed this live counter on your site
About these numbers
Population, growth, birth and death rates, migration, density, age structure, life expectancy, fertility and GDP per capita come from the World Bank Indicators API (latest available year shown beside each figure). The live counter applies the annual growth rate continuously from 1 July 2025 — a model, not a measurement. City populations are the latest census or official estimate held by GeoNames and are not projected. Sub-city units are folded into their parent city.
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Read this country carefully
This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.