open data

Photo of Child fetching water in northwest Somalia

WorldPop Open Data Helps UNICEF Pinpoint Children’s Climate Vulnerability

WorldPop News /

Take Our Survey and Help Shape What Comes Next UNICEF is launching the Global Child Hazard Database (GCHD) at London Climate Action Week later this month. The GCHD initiative provides globally standardised datasets on children’s exposure to overlapping climate and environmental risks. The project aims to provide timely and accurate data to support informed decision-making and policy advocacy for the world’s youth.  Central to this […]

WorldPop Open Data Helps UNICEF Pinpoint Children’s Climate Vulnerability Read More »

Graphic showing geographic distribution of median area sizes of subnational units in the input population data for the Global Subnational Demographic Dataset 2010–2030

Mapping a World in Transition: New Study Lays Foundation for WorldPop Global 2 Population Data 

WorldPop News /

Take Our Survey and Help Shape What Comes Next WorldPop researchers at the University of Southampton have published the methodology behind the massive subnational dataset used to power Global 2 – our latest high-resolution mapping of the human population.  The new article, published as a preprint in VeriXiv, details how the team harmonised and projected population data for more than 716,000 subnational administrative units across

Mapping a World in Transition: New Study Lays Foundation for WorldPop Global 2 Population Data  Read More »

Screen capture of Lagos, Nigeria population pyramid.

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

WorldPop News /

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 structures at 1km spatial resolution. This open-access resource is valuable for

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

Map showing Coverage of Google Open Buildings Temporal dataset in the global south.

High-Resolution Mapping Sheds Light on Rapid Urban Growth

WorldPop News /

Take Our Survey and Help Shape What Comes Next Rapid urban growth is reshaping cities across Africa, Latin America and Asia, but in many places, reliable and up-to-date data about how cities are expanding simply doesn’t exist. New research from WorldPop, led by Dr Rhorom Priyatikanto, aims to change that.  The team has developed a new dataset that tracks how

High-Resolution Mapping Sheds Light on Rapid Urban Growth Read More »

Graphic invitation to join AI-Enabled Data and Methods to Address Demographic Gaps for Children on the Move webinar

WorldPop/IDAC Webinar: Demographic Gaps for Children on the Move

WorldPop News /

WorldPop is partnering with the International Data Alliance for Children on the Move (IDAC) to host a webinar on February 19 exploring how AI can bridge critical demographic gaps for children on the move. This session highlights the necessity of accurate and contemporary data to ensure vulnerable populations are visible in humanitarian decision-making. Professor Andy

WorldPop/IDAC Webinar: Demographic Gaps for Children on the Move Read More »

Infographic titled "Experts refute "missing" population claim

Global Population Data Experts Refute Claims of Systematic Rural Underrepresentation

WorldPop News /

An international team of researchers, including experts from the WorldPop group at the University of Southampton, has challenged recent claims that gridded global population maps systematically undercount rural communities. In a comprehensive response to a study published in Nature Communications, the team argues that allegations of a 50% undercount are based on a flawed research design that

Global Population Data Experts Refute Claims of Systematic Rural Underrepresentation Read More »

Photo of a young woman checking her smartphone in a busy Philippines market.

Transforming Social Media Signals into Accurate Population Maps for Crisis Response

WorldPop News /

An international research team led by Dr Paolo Andrich, a visiting researcher at WorldPop based at the University of Oxford, has developed a novel statistical framework to turn anonymised, biased social media data into reliable population estimates. This approach provides a timely and contemporary alternative to traditional censuses, which are often static and struggle to

Transforming Social Media Signals into Accurate Population Maps for Crisis Response Read More »

Photo of the WorldPop senior team meeting with their counterparts at DHIS2, University of Oslo

Strengthening Data Systems Together: WorldPop Meets the DHIS2 Team in Oslo

WorldPop News /

Last week, the WorldPop senior team met with their counterparts at DHIS2 at their headquarters in the University of Oslo. The conversations marked an important moment to step back from day-to-day technical work and focus on the bigger picture: how population data and digital administrative systems can work together to support better public services worldwide. 

Strengthening Data Systems Together: WorldPop Meets the DHIS2 Team in Oslo 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.

University of Southampton Logo - white transparent crop
Powered by WorldPop
Mastodon Youtube Linkedin Github Comments
Quick Link
Resource
Contact Info
  • University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
  • Contact us