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P1The table presents population (millions), annual growth rate (%) and median age (years) for five countries in 2020.

P2Overall, Japan stood apart as the only country with a shrinking population and the oldest median age, while Nigeria was the fastest-growing nation and had the youngest population by a substantial margin.

P3China and India were by far the most populous countries, with 1,411 million and 1,380 million inhabitants respectively, together accounting for the majority of the five-country total. The USA ranked third at 331 million, followed by Nigeria at 206 million and Japan at 126 million. In terms of growth, Nigeria recorded the highest annual rate at 2.6%, compared with India at 1.0% and the USA at 0.4%. China's growth was minimal at 0.2%, whereas Japan was the only country experiencing population decline, at -0.3%.

P4The median age figures reinforced these contrasts sharply. Japan's population was the oldest, with a median age of 48 years, a figure 30 years higher than Nigeria's 18 years, which was the youngest across the table. China and the USA shared the same median age of 38 years, while India's figure of 28 years sat between the extremes. The data therefore illustrate a clear pattern: countries with the fastest growth tended to have the youngest populations, and those with slow or negative growth the oldest.