How many people live in the Northern Mariana Islands right now?
Right now, according to UN estimates
42,775
| Today | In 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Births | · | · |
| Deaths | · | · |
| Net migration | · | · |
| Growth | · | · |
2026 figures
- Rank by population
- 215 of 237
- Share of world population
- 0.0005%
- Median age
- 38.8 years
- Children per woman
- 2.24
- Life expectancy
- 79.2 years
- People per km²
- 94
According to UN estimates, about 42,775 people live in the Northern Mariana Islands right now. It ranks 215th out of 237 countries and territories by population, between Sint Maarten and Gibraltar, and it is home to one in every 195,000 people on the planet.
Every year, about 470 people are born there and about 240 die. More people leave than arrive: net migration reduces the population by about 790 people a year. More people are born than die, but emigration makes the population shrink. Overall, it loses about 560 people a year.
In 1950, about 7,110 people lived there. Today there are 6.0 times as many. It peaked in 2000, at about 68,356, and has been falling since. By 2050 it is projected to have about 42,764 people (about the same as today), and by 2100 about 41,611.
Half of its people are younger than 39 (worldwide, 31). Women have an average of 2.24 children each, above the 2.1 needed for each generation to replace the one before, and life expectancy at birth is 79 years (worldwide, 74). There are 94 people per square kilometer.
UN estimates up to today and projections (medium variant) from today onward.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the population of the Northern Mariana Islands in 2026?
- The Northern Mariana Islands has about 42,775 people right now, according to the UN's World Population Prospects 2024. On July 1, 2026, there were 42,914.
- How many people are born each day in the Northern Mariana Islands?
- Very few: about 470 a year. About 240 people die each year.
- Is the population of the Northern Mariana Islands growing?
- No: it shrinks by 1.31% a year, or about 560 people.
- What will the population of the Northern Mariana Islands be in 2050?
- According to the UN projection (medium variant), about 42,764.
- Why doesn't this figure match the country's official statistics?
- The UN estimates the population of every country with the same method, based on censuses, surveys and registers, and projects it year by year. Each national statistics office uses its own censuses and registers, which may be more up to date or count foreign residents differently. That is why the figures can differ slightly.
Countries with a similar population
- Saint Kitts and Nevis 47,012
- American Samoa 45,107
- Sint Maarten 44,604
- Gibraltar 41,085
- Liechtenstein 40,439
- British Virgin Islands 39,991
More countries in Oceania
- Australia 27,305,123
- Papua New Guinea 11,005,600
- New Zealand 5,298,030
- Fiji 938,561
- Solomon Islands 864,514
- Vanuatu 344,891
- New Caledonia 298,674
- French Polynesia 283,264
- Samoa 220,922
- Guam 170,550
- Kiribati 139,061
- Micronesia 114,346
All countries and territories →
Where these figures come from
The figures are estimates from the United Nations Population Division, published in World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant): the reference used by international organizations and by most population counters. The UN estimates how many people there are on July 1 of each year and how many are born, die and migrate; between one date and the next, this counter spreads the change continuously, second by second.
It is not a real-time headcount: nobody can count every person in a country at once. It is the best available estimate, and it may differ slightly from the figures of each country's statistics office, which use their own censuses and population registers.