<p>For "historical" population data, you can refer to the <a href="https://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/collection/gpw-v4" rel="noreferrer">Gridded Population of the World (GPW), version 4</a>. This dataset makes available estimates of population at ~1 km resolution (30 arc second) for the years 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2020.</p>

<p>The GPWv4 was also used by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre for the <a href="https://ghsl.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ghs_pop.php" rel="noreferrer">Global Human Settlemen</a>t project. This dataset makes available residential population estimates for target years 1975, 1990, 2000 and 2015 at 250m and 1km spatial resolution.</p>

<p>If you also need future projections, you can refer to the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) scenarios downscaled by Murakami and Yamagata (<a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/7/2106" rel="noreferrer">2019</a>), available <a href="https://www.cger.nies.go.jp/gcp/population-and-gdp.html" rel="noreferrer">here</a>, or by Jones and O'Neill (<a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/8/084003" rel="noreferrer">2016</a>), made available through the <a href="https://www.isimip.org/gettingstarted/input-data-bias-correction/details/62/" rel="noreferrer">ISIMIP project portal</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-13T10:46:09.480Z
2020-01-13T10:56:37.670Z
2020-01-13T10:56:37.670Z
Nemesi
<p>Can anyone recommend a good source for high-resolution georeferenced population data? I know that <a href="https://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/10m-cultural-vectors/" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Natural Earth Data's</em> Cultural Vectors</a> e.g. contain the population per country. However, I am looking for georeferenced global population data with a higher resolution than on a country level. Obviously, Wikipedia and other sources feature data for some country's states or cities but is there a database (ideally) georeferenced which features such data on a global level?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-13T11:37:05.683Z
Voting to close as off-topic because this is not about earth science. (try the GIS stackexchange, if they allow such questions?)
Semidiurnal Simon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-13T12:24:12.527Z
I agree with Simon, this is more a GIS-related question.
Jean-Marie Prival
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-13T13:17:22.853Z
To some extent I agree with Simon and Jean-Marie; on the other hand, however, high resolution population data are widely used for earth surface modeling, therefore the question might be somehow relevant for the community.
Nemesi
<open-data><gis>
High-resolution georeferenced population data
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# High-resolution georeferenced population data

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-01-13)

Can anyone recommend a good source for high-resolution georeferenced population data? I know that [*Natural Earth Data's* Cultural Vectors](https://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/10m-cultural-vectors/) e.g. contain the population per country. However, I am looking for georeferenced global population data with a higher resolution than on a country level. Obviously, Wikipedia and other sources feature data for some country's states or cities but is there a database (ideally) georeferenced which features such data on a global level?

**Tags:** open-data, gis

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Voting to close as off-topic because this is not about earth science. (try the GIS stackexchange, if they allow such questions?)  
> **username_2**: I agree with username_1, this is more a GIS-related question.  
> **username_3**: To some extent I agree with username_1 and username_2; on the other hand, however, high resolution population data are widely used for earth surface modeling, therefore the question might be somehow relevant for the community.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-01-13. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

For "historical" population data, you can refer to the [Gridded Population of the World (GPW), version 4](https://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/collection/gpw-v4). This dataset makes available estimates of population at ~1 km resolution (30 arc second) for the years 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2020.

The GPWv4 was also used by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre for the [Global Human Settlemen](https://ghsl.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ghs_pop.php)t project. This dataset makes available residential population estimates for target years 1975, 1990, 2000 and 2015 at 250m and 1km spatial resolution.

If you also need future projections, you can refer to the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) scenarios downscaled by Murakami and Yamagata ([2019](https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/7/2106)), available [here](https://www.cger.nies.go.jp/gcp/population-and-gdp.html), or by Jones and O'Neill ([2016](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/8/084003)), made available through the [ISIMIP project portal](https://www.isimip.org/gettingstarted/input-data-bias-correction/details/62/).


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