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 2026-09-05 · 1 metros tracked

🗺️ Geography1 metro

Vanuatu metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
1 polygons

Hover for rank, click to open the metro page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

🏙️ 1 tracked metro
1 metros
#2498Port Vila★ Capital▲ Largest
0.3
🗂️ Provinces

6 entries listed under Vanuatu. Click 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.

💹 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
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

marks a leader associated with atrocities or defiance of law, systemic subversion of democratic institutions, or a criminal conviction. Convictions arising from political persecution, and annulled convictions, are excluded. denotes a monarch. These are editorial designations, applied per entry rather than derived automatically.

Jotham Napat✦ Current

2025Present

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 4m

Charlot Salwai

20232025

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 4m

Sato Kilman

20232023

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 1m

Ishmael Kalsakau

20222023

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 10m

Nikenike Vurobaravu✦ Current

2022Present

President

Tenure: 3y 11m

Bob Loughman

20202022

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2y 6m

Tallis Obed Moses

20172022

President

Tenure: 5y 0m

Charlot Salwai

20162020

Prime Minister

Tenure: 4y 2m

Sato Kilman

20152016

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 8m

Baldwin Lonsdale

20142017

President

Tenure: 2y 8m

Joe Natuman

20142015

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 0m

Moana Carcasses Kalosil

20132014

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 1m
Show all 43 leaders

Sato Kilman

20112013

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 8m

Edward Natapei

20112011

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 0m

Sato Kilman

20112011

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 1m

Serge Vohor

20112011

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 0m

Sato Kilman

20102011

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 4m

Edward Natapei

20092010

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 11m

Serge Vohor

20092009

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 0m

Iolu Abil

20092014

President

Tenure: 5y 0m

Edward Natapei

20082009

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 2m

Ham Lini

20042008

Prime Minister

Tenure: 3y 9m

Kalkot Mataskelekele

20042009

President

Tenure: 5y 0m

Serge Vohor

20042004

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 4m

Alfred Maseng

20042004

President

Tenure: 0y 0m

Edward Natapei

20012004

Prime Minister

Tenure: 3y 3m

Barak Sopé

19992001

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 4m

John Bani

19992004

President

Tenure: 5y 0m

Edward Natapei

19991999

President

Tenure: 0y 0m

Donald Kalpokas

19981999

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 7m

Serge Vohor

19961998

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 6m

Maxime Carlot Korman

19961996

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 7m

Serge Vohor

19951996

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 2m

Jean-Marie Léyé

19941999

President

Tenure: 5y 0m

Alfred Maseng

19941994

President

Tenure: 0y 1m

Maxime Carlot Korman

19911995

Prime Minister

Tenure: 4y 0m

Donald Kalpokas

19911991

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 3m

Fred Timakata

19891994

President

Tenure: 5y 0m

Onneyn Tahi

19891989

President

Tenure: 0y 0m

Ati George Sokomanu

19841989

President

Tenure: 4y 10m

Fred Timakata

19841984

President

Tenure: 0y 0m

Walter Lini

19801991

Prime Minister

Tenure: 11y 1m

Ati George Sokomanu

19801984

President

Tenure: 3y 6m
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
Today
Minor#211 · 0.0%
3%5%8%10%2000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)
Vanuatu · share of world power, 1981–2026

The powerline 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
Vanuatu · people, 1800–2023 · dashed to 2026 is projected

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

Tap or drag across the chart to read any year: the estimate to 2023, then the UN median, its bands and the scenarios.

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
Show all 16 decades
2030
10k born · 2k died · -186 net migration
TFR 3.35 · life expectancy 72.7 · median age 20.9
2040
11k born · 2k died · -479 net migration
TFR 3.05 · life expectancy 74.3 · median age 23.1
2050
12k born · 3k died · -508 net migration
TFR 2.80 · life expectancy 75.8 · median age 25.2
2060
12k born · 3k died · -717 net migration
TFR 2.61 · life expectancy 77.4 · median age 27.2
2070
12k born · 4k died · -723 net migration
TFR 2.45 · life expectancy 78.9 · median age 29.3
2080
12k born · 5k died · -791 net migration
TFR 2.32 · life expectancy 80.3 · median age 31.6
2090
12k born · 6k died · -822 net migration
TFR 2.21 · life expectancy 81.7 · median age 33.9
2100
12k born · 7k died · -804 net migration
TFR 2.12 · life expectancy 83.0 · median age 36.0

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. Click a card for the full record.