Number Of Men And Women

The ratio between the male and female population size is called the gender ratio. This ratio is not stable — it is shaped by biological, social, technological, cultural, and economic forces. In turn, the gender ratio has an impact on society, demography, and the economy.

On this page, we provide an overview of how the gender ratio varies across the world and over time. We present data on how it varies between age groups and the forces that influence the gender ratio.

Many argue persuasively that the terms "gender" and "sex" are not to be used interchangeably.1

In this context, we have made an exception — we speak of the "gender ratio" because it's a familiar term and will help people who want to search for the topic and learn about it. But we also speak of the "sex ratio" because it is more accurate in this situation – reflecting that the underlying data is based on sex — and because this term is increasingly used in the academic literature.

Globally, in 2021, the female share of the global population was just under 50%.

But this share, and the sex ratio, vary around the world. There are three broad reasons for this:

Births – the sex ratio at birth is not equal. In all countries, there are more male than female births, although the extent of this varies by country as we will see below. This means that all else being equal, we would expect the male share of the population to be higher.
Deaths – there are sex differences in mortality rates and life expectancy. On average, women live longer than men. This means that all else being equal, we would expect the male share of the population to be lower.
Migrations – immigration and emigration can vary by gender, which can be the effect of labor markets, conflicts, and other factors.
The balance of these factors determines the sex ratio of the total population.

In the map below, we see the sex ratio of populations: this is shown as the female share of the total population.

Countries over 50 percent (shown in orange) have a higher female population, while those below 50 percent (shown in purple) have a higher male population.