WorldPop News

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Presenting New Research on Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease

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Take Our Survey and Help Shape What Comes Next Last week, Research Fellow Dr Somnath Chaudhri presented new research on mapping the risks of Guinea Worm Disease across Sub-Saharan Africa at the Intelligent Systems for Vector-Borne Disease Study Group Meeting held at The Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Institute for Advanced Study in Delmenhorst, Germany.  The presentation focused on how spatial […]

Presenting New Research on Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease Read More »

Screen capture of Lagos, Nigeria population pyramid.

Open-access WorldPop data reveals hidden demographic trends across 10,000 cities

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Take Our Survey and Help Shape What Comes Next High-resolution data from WorldPop is uncovering critical demographic shifts in over 10,000 cities that national averages often hide. The study, led by Dr Andrew Zimmer and published in Nature Cities, provides a globally consistent view of urban change between 2000 and 2020.  Researchers used WorldPop’s anonymised and aggregated gridded population distributions to track age and sex

Open-access WorldPop data reveals hidden demographic trends across 10,000 cities Read More »

Bangkok, Thailand

AI-driven mapping to ensure no one is left behind in rapidly growing cities

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Take Our Survey and Help Shape What Comes Next WorldPop have launched a new artificial intelligence framework project to test methods for mapping urban populations with improved accuracy. This initiative aims to ensure that vulnerable residents in low- and middle-income countries are accurately represented in vital decision-making processes, from vaccine distribution to disaster response.  In

AI-driven mapping to ensure no one is left behind in rapidly growing cities Read More »

Global map showing estimated fine scale economic activity for 2024 using 2023 where unavailable

Mapping the World in Greater Detail: Why the World Bank’s New AI Research Matters 

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Take Our Survey and Help Shape What Comes Next A new World Bank policy research working paper demonstrates how artificial intelligence and open geospatial data can help governments understand economies at a far more detailed local level.  Many important statistics, such as GDP, poverty, infrastructure access, or disaster risk, are usually reported only at national

Mapping the World in Greater Detail: Why the World Bank’s New AI Research Matters  Read More »

Photo of Dr Thea Woods, Dr Lawrence Hawker, Heather Chamberlain and Dr Evgeny Noi at EGU26 General Assembly

Mapping Vulnerability: Researchers Present New Climate and Population Data at EGU26

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Take Our Survey and Help Shape What Comes Next Improving accuracy in geospatial data is transforming how we protect vulnerable populations from climate-driven disasters. Earlier this month, a team of researchers from WorldPop and the FuturePop project presented pioneering research at the EGU26 General Assembly in Vienna, Austria. From tracking flood-induced displacement in India to

Mapping Vulnerability: Researchers Present New Climate and Population Data at EGU26 Read More »

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How AI and Data of Population Dynamics Could Help Eliminate Malaria

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Take Our Survey and Help Shape What Comes Next Artificial intelligence is already reshaping fields like finance, transportation, and medicine. Now it is being deployed against one of humanity’s oldest and deadliest diseases: malaria.  With funding provided by the Web Science Institute, WorldPop is applying its AI and spatial demography and epidemiology expertise to a

How AI and Data of Population Dynamics Could Help Eliminate Malaria Read More »

Photo of Dr Edson Utazi presenting at the 2026 Guinea Worm Eradication Program (GWEP) Research Review meeting

High-resolution mapping identifies Guinea worm hotspots to support global eradication

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Take Our Survey and Help Shape What Comes Next WorldPop Associate Professor, Dr Edson Utazi presented Mapping the Risk of Guinea Worm Disease project findings last week at the 2026 Guinea Worm Eradication Program (GWEP) Research Review meeting, organised by The Carter Center. The meeting brought together experts from across the world working in areas such as genomics, geospatial

High-resolution mapping identifies Guinea worm hotspots to support global eradication Read More »

Photo of Dr Chris Nnanatu presenting at the High Level Engagement meeting.

Mapping Nigeria’s Future: The Road to a Smart National Census

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Take Our Survey and Help Shape What Comes Next An important leap toward a modern and credible national census took place recently in Abuja, Nigeria. On April 30, 2026, the Federal Government officially launched an 18-month initiative to consolidate and modernise Nigeria’s national geospatial database. This high-level event brought together key leaders from the National

Mapping Nigeria’s Future: The Road to a Smart National Census Read More »

DHIS2 webinar screen capture

New webinar showcases how geospatial data reaches zero-dose children in remote regions

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Take Our Survey and Help Shape What Comes Next Last week, the DHIS2 community broadcast a significant webinar detailing how high-resolution WorldPop population data has been integrated into the DHIS2 platform. This digital integration is transforming how life-saving vaccines are delivered in low- and middle-income countries. With WorldPop’s 100m population grid cells now integrated in

New webinar showcases how geospatial data reaches zero-dose children in remote regions Read More »

Photo of Minawao refugee camp, Cameroon

New geospatial method transforms how refugee populations are counted and surveyed 

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Take Our Survey and Help Shape What Comes Next WorldPop researchers have developed a faster, more accurate way to build national survey frameworks that better represent displaced populations, which is addressing a long-standing gap in humanitarian data. The study introduces a geospatial approach that enables governments and international organisations to identify and include refugees in

New geospatial method transforms how refugee populations are counted and surveyed  Read More »

About Us

The WorldPop research programme, based in the School of Geography and Environmental Sciences at the University of Southampton, is a multi-sectoral team of researchers, technicians and project specialists that produces data on population distributions and characteristics at high spatial resolution.

Initiated in October 2013 to combine The AfriPop Project, AsiaPop and AmeriPop projects, we have a diverse portfolio of projects, including large multi-million-pound collaborative projects with partner organisations, commercial data providers and international development organisations.

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  • University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
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