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Data

World regions according to UN

About this data

World regions according to UN
Regions defined by the United Nations, which are used across the UN including UN WPP.
Source
United Nations, Statistics Division – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
January 1, 2023
Date range
2023–2023

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

United Nations, Statistics Division – Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49)

The list of geographic regions presents the composition of geographical regions used by the Statistics Division in its publications and databases. Each country or area is shown in one region only. These geographic regions are based on continental regions; which are further subdivided into sub-regions and intermediary regions drawn as to obtain greater homogeneity in sizes of population, demographic circumstances and accuracy of demographic statistics.

The assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories by the United Nations.

Retrieved on
August 22, 2025
Retrieved from
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/

The list of geographic regions presents the composition of geographical regions used by the Statistics Division in its publications and databases. Each country or area is shown in one region only. These geographic regions are based on continental regions; which are further subdivided into sub-regions and intermediary regions drawn as to obtain greater homogeneity in sizes of population, demographic circumstances and accuracy of demographic statistics.

The assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories by the United Nations.

Retrieved on
August 22, 2025
Retrieved from
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/

How we process data at Our World in Data

All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across Our World in Data.

Read about our data pipeline

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Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: World regions according to UN”. Our World in Data (2026). Data adapted from United Nations, Statistics Division. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260507-165630/grapher/world-regions-according-to-un.html [online resource] (archived on May 7, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

United Nations, Statistics Division – processed by Our World in Data

Full citation

United Nations, Statistics Division – processed by Our World in Data. “World regions according to UN” [dataset]. United Nations, Statistics Division, “Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49)” [original data]. Retrieved May 7, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260507-165630/grapher/world-regions-according-to-un.html (archived on May 7, 2026).

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