WorldPop News

Photo of Andy Tatem presenting at the UNICEF Ahead of the Storm conference October, 2026

Ahead of the Storm: How Data is Shielding Children from Climate Disasters 

WorldPop News /

Last week, I travelled to Geneva for UNICEF’s Ahead of the Storm workshop, a gathering of scientists, policymakers, and tech innovators united by a clear mission: using high-quality data and exploring the potential of artificial intelligence to protect children from climate emergencies. As climate change and phenomena like El Niño intensify, the window between a […]

Ahead of the Storm: How Data is Shielding Children from Climate Disasters  Read More »

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WorldPop recognised in Invest in Open Infrastructure’s Infra Finder

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WorldPop has been included in Infra Finder, a global resource developed by Invest in Open Infrastructure (IOI) to help researchers, funders and organisations discover trusted open infrastructure services. The listing places WorldPop among a cohort of 47 data-focused resources highlighted through a collaboration between IOI and Wellcome. Infra Finder was created to improve the visibility,

WorldPop recognised in Invest in Open Infrastructure’s Infra Finder Read More »

Infographic showing the framework to assess ecological outcomes of counter-urbanisation

Moving to the countryside: what does it mean for nature?

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A growing number of people are leaving cities for rural and suburban areas, a trend known as counter-urbanisation. While the environmental impacts of urban growth are well understood, an international team of researchers led by WorldPop postgraduate researcher Qianwen Duan say much less is known about what happens when people move in the opposite direction. 

Moving to the countryside: what does it mean for nature? Read More »

Photo of Professor Samir KC presenting at WorldPop

Building the next generation of population futures: Samir KC visits WorldPop

WorldPop News /

How can we move beyond national population projections to understand how populations may change in individual regions, cities and communities? That question was at the heart of a recent visit to WorldPop by Samir KC, one of the world’s leading demographers, professor at the Asian Demographic Research Institute (ADRI), Shanghai University, and a Senior Research

Building the next generation of population futures: Samir KC visits WorldPop Read More »

Photo of someone sleeping under mosquito net.

How human expertise and AI can support vector-borne disease control

WorldPop News /

As climate change, urban growth and human movement reshape the world around us, the diseases carried by mosquitoes are changing too. Malaria, dengue and other mosquito-borne illnesses are appearing in new places, putting more communities at risk than ever before. A new Perspective paper in Environmental Change and Disease Dynamics and co-authored by WorldPop visitor

How human expertise and AI can support vector-borne disease control Read More »

Map showing output from pyDasymetric tool

Turning Population Counts into High-Resolution Maps with pyDasymetric

WorldPop News /

Creating accurate population maps often starts with a challenge: population data are typically reported for administrative areas, but decisions need to be made at a much finer scale. To help bridge that gap, we have released pyDasymetric, a free, open-source Python package that makes it easier to redistribute population counts into high-resolution gridded population datasets

Turning Population Counts into High-Resolution Maps with pyDasymetric Read More »

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You told us what you need. We’re acting on it.

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More than 420 people from around the world have helped shape the future of WorldPop.  Researchers, government analysts, public health specialists, humanitarian practitioners and technical experts responded to our recent user requirements survey, sharing how they use WorldPop data, what works well and where they see opportunities for improvement.  What they told us was both

You told us what you need. We’re acting on it. Read More »

Photo of Dr Jessica Espey with Emily Cole at the QRMG Annual Lecture, 2026.

From local knowledge to global decisions: advancing inclusive data science

WorldPop News /

How do we make sure data reflects the people and places it is meant to represent? And how can cities make better decisions in an increasingly complex world? These were some of the questions explored by Dr Jessica Espey, Deputy Director (Research) at WorldPop, during recent engagements at the Royal Geographical Society Annual Conference in

From local knowledge to global decisions: advancing inclusive data science Read More »

Graphic showing components of the bottom–up approach to small area population estimation.

New Ways to Count Populations When the Census Falls Short

WorldPop News /

Reliable population data is one of the foundations of effective decision-making. Governments use it to plan schools, hospitals and infrastructure. Humanitarian agencies rely on it to deliver aid. Health organisations need it to estimate how many vaccines, medicines and health workers are required in different communities. Yet for many countries, obtaining accurate and up-to-date population

New Ways to Count Populations When the Census Falls Short 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.

WorldPop develops and publishes open, high-resolution population datasets to support social, economic, and environmental development, humanitarian response, and the Sustainable Development Goals. This data is not intended, and should not be used, for purposes that discriminate against, exploit, surveil, or otherwise harm individuals or vulnerable populations; users are expected to apply it responsibly, assess the risks of their own analyses (particularly when combining it with other datasets) and are solely responsible for how they use it.

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