Vanuatu

OceaniaCapital city: Port-VilaCapital metro: Port VilaPresident: Nikenike VurobaravuPrime Minister: Jotham Napat
2026 population
321K
Rank #188 globally
Area
12k km² (5k sq mi)
Metros tracked
1
32% of population in metros
Composite score
0.3
Rank #222 globally

population: Natl annual projection (1 Jul 2024) · indicators as of 5 Sep 2026 · 1 metros tracked

🗺️ Geography1 metro

Vanuatu metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
1 polygons

Select a metro for its rank and a link to its page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

🏙️ 1 tracked metro
1 metros
#2501Port Vila★ Capital▲ Largest
Shefa · 104K · Local Metro
0.3
🗂️ Provinces

6 entries listed under Vanuatu. Select any to see its metros and footprint.

6 total
📋 At a glance
Official languages
French, English, Bislama
Legislature
Parliament of Vanuatu
Demonym
Vanuatuan
Time zone
UTC+11:00
Driving side
Right
Calling code
+678
Internet TLD
.vu
ISO 3166
VU
Established
1980
Highest point
Mount Tabwemasana (1,879 m (6,165 ft))
National anthem
Yumi, Yumi

Facts via Wikidata.

🗣️ Languages of Vanuatu

Bislama first; 3 languages share the country; 3 official.

LanguageShareStatus
Bislama90%Official
English83%Official
French31%Official

Shares count first and second language, so they overlap and can add past 100%.

English reach
83%
Tier 3 country
Effective languages
1.0
Official-language gap
10%
Bislama is spoken by 90%

Vanuatu on the languages board · Language power

💹 Economy and developmentLower middle income
Human Dev. Index
#144 / 191
0.621
UNDP · 2023
GDP
#182 / 193
$1.4B
World Bank · 2025
GDP per capita
#130 / 193
$4.0k
World Bank · 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#159 / 190
$4.5k
World Bank · 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#123 / 192
$4.4k
World Bank · 2025
Life expectancy
#120 / 194
71.7 yrs
World Bank · 2024
Median age
20.1 yrs
UN WPP · 2023
Urban population
#186 / 194
22%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. growth
2.2%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. density
#158 / 193
26/km² (68/mi²)
World Bank · 2023
Foreign-born
#154 / 193
1.0%
World Bank · 2024
Rule of law
#46 / 175
0.82
V-Dem · 2025
Gini index
#52 / 166
32.3
World Bank · 2019
Internet users
#174 / 193
22%
World Bank · 2015
Inflation
#27 / 185
0.7%
World Bank · 2025
CO₂ per capita
#40 / 192
0.6 t
Global Carbon Budget · 2024
Renewable electricity
#106 / 186
25%
Ember · 2023

Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.

Alliances & Organisations3 full memberships

Political & Economic

Regional

Subregional

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

🏛️ Leadership History43 leaders · click to expand
Jotham Napat✦ Current
Prime Minister · 1y 4m
2025–Present
Charlot Salwai
Prime Minister · 1y 4m
2023–2025
Sato Kilman
Prime Minister · 0y 1m
2023–2023
Ishmael Kalsakau
Prime Minister · 0y 10m
2022–2023
Nikenike Vurobaravu✦ Current
President · 3y 11m
2022–Present
Bob Loughman
Prime Minister · 2y 6m
2020–2022
Tallis Obed Moses
President · 5y 0m
2017–2022
Charlot Salwai
Prime Minister · 4y 2m
2016–2020
Sato Kilman
Prime Minister · 0y 8m
2015–2016
Baldwin Lonsdale
President · 2y 8m
2014–2017
Joe Natuman
Prime Minister · 1y 0m
2014–2015
Moana Carcasses Kalosil
Prime Minister · 1y 1m
2013–2014
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
Today
Minor#211 · 0.0%
3%5%8%10%2000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)

The power line is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.

👥 Population over time
Population 2023
320k
#182 in the world
Since 1800
12×
from 28k
Peak
2023
at its largest now
Share of world
0.00%
0.00% in 1800
86k171k257k343k18001850190019502000

Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.

👥 To 2100

The UN’s probabilistic projection for Vanuatu: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.

Peak on the median
after 2100
still growing at 2100
2050
534k
95% band 425k to 666k
2100
875k
95% band 387k to 2.2m
2100 against 2025
2.61×
median still rising in 2100
577k1.2m1.7m2.3m1950197520002025205020752100
estimateUN median80% and 95% bandshigh and low fertilityzero migration

What drives it

Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.

1950
2k born · 1k died · -164 net migration
TFR 7.04 · life expectancy 43.9 · median age 17.7
1960
3k born · 1k died · 0 net migration
TFR 6.78 · life expectancy 49.8 · median age 16.6
1970
4k born · 1k died · -46 net migration
TFR 6.35 · life expectancy 55.3 · median age 15.9
1980
5k born · 1k died · -896 net migration
TFR 5.69 · life expectancy 61.3 · median age 16.5
1990
6k born · 1k died · -1k net migration
TFR 5.17 · life expectancy 66.7 · median age 16.7
2000
6k born · 994 died · -339 net migration
TFR 4.54 · life expectancy 68.6 · median age 17.1
2010
8k born · 1k died · -1k net migration
TFR 4.13 · life expectancy 69.6 · median age 19.5
2020
9k born · 2k died · -201 net migration
TFR 3.74 · life expectancy 70.4 · median age 20.2

Every country to 2100 →

Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.

🏆 National Teams

Vanuatu on the international stage. Select a card for the full record.