Asians make up more than 50% of the Earth's population.

The People's Republic of China (East Asia) and the Republic of India (South Asia) account for the largest shares of the global population. The point at which their population figures crossed paths in 2023 and 2024 is particularly noteworthy; during this period, India overtook its neighbor China in terms of population size. In preceding decades, the gap between the two countries' population figures had at times been substantial. While statistical projections anticipate a decline in China's population over the coming decades, India's population is expected to continue growing. According to figures from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis), China's population is projected to fall to approximately 600 million by 2099, whereas India's is expected to reach 1.5 billion.

The reason for the growing populations of certain countries cannot be found in their total land area. Russia is considered the largest country in the world, yet it ranks only around ninth in the accompanying table. Canada does not even appear in the top ten of this list (with a population of approximately 40.1 million), despite being the second-largest country in the world when its archipelago and northern territories are included. Instead, local economic and political developments play a significant role, as do soil fertility and the availability of natural resources. For instance, it was observed that following independence from British colonial rule in 1947, child mortality in India dropped significantly, while birth rates subsequently rose. The sustained, marked increase in India's birth rate—continuing to the present day—underscores this milestone as a turning point.
Today, China's per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is many times higher than that of India—a disparity that characterizes India as a poor country within the region. However, decades ago, China—now an economic powerhouse—was also regarded as a severely underdeveloped nation; that status is increasingly fading.