WorldPop Project

@sotongeogenviron.bsky.social @uosmedia.bsky.social @gavi.org @unicefmedia.bsky.social

New high-resolution mapping reveals critical measles vaccination gaps in children High-resolution maps reveal where and when children are missing measles vaccines in Côte d’Ivoire, helping target immunisation efforts more precisely.

🌍New high-resolution maps show where children are missing life-saving #measles #vaccines & at what age.

The findings can help health teams target catch-up campaigns more precisely.

👉 www.worldpop.org/blog/new-hig...

#Immunisation #GlobalHealth #Gavi #UNICEF

Mapping the Future: How WorldPop Global 2 is Revolutionizing Health Data in DHIS2 Discover how WorldPop Global 2 high-resolution population data in DHIS2 improves health planning, climate resilience & vaccination coverage mapping.

📊 WorldPop Global 2 is now integrated into #DHIS2, enabling population mapping for better vaccination planning, outbreak prediction & climate resilience.

Smarter data. Better decisions. 🌍

👉 www.worldpop.org/blog/mapping...

@sotongeogenviron.bsky.social

#GlobalHealth #GIS #ClimateHealth

From Insight to Impact: WorldPop and JRC Explore Closer Collaboration WorldPop visited the European Commission’s JRC to explore collaboration with GHSL, demography and urban teams, strengthening harmonised global population data.

WorldPop visited the European Commission’s JRC meeting #GHSL, #Demography & Urban teams.

Improving global data with stronger standards, better comparability & closer collaboration.

👉 www.worldpop.org/blog/from-in...

#PopulationData #OpenData
@sotongeogenviron.bsky.social @uosmedia.bsky.social

WorldPop establishes new Advisory Board to drive global health and development impact WorldPop has appointed a new Advisory Board of global experts to strengthen the impact of its high-resolution population data on health, development and decision-making worldwide.

We’ve appointed a new Advisory Board that brings together leaders in AI, demography & policy to strengthen the global impact of our high-resolution open population data.

Read more: www.worldpop.org/blog/worldpo...

#GlobalHealth #DataForGood @sotongeogenviron.bsky.social @uosmedia.bsky.social

Webinar: WorldPop Global 2 - Yearly High-Resolution Population Data in DHIS2 - DHIS2 Learn how the new WorldPop Global 2 dataset integration in DHIS2 makes population data analysis more accurate, accessible, and powerful across Maps, Import/Export, and Climate Tools apps.

🌍 Don’t miss the WorldPop Global 2 webinar on 4 March!
Explore the latest high-resolution population #OpenData (2015–2030) now integrated into #DHIS2 with age/sex disaggregation & key covariates.
👉 dhis2.org/events/world...
#PopulationScience
@sotongeogenviron.bsky.social @dhis2.org

Degree of Urbanisation (DEGURBA) level 1 for 16 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean This data release contains four harmonised gridded population datasets as well as the derived gridded "DEGURBA Level 1" datasets and associated spa...

Explore #OpenData on Degree of Urbanisation for 16 countries in #Africa and #Caribbean.

Ideal for researchers and planners and data scientists. Access full data with metadata and documentation:
doi.org/10.13130/RD_...

#Urbanisation #GIS #Research #DEGURBA

@sotongeogenviron.bsky.social

Join us for an overview of the new WorldPop Global 2 dataset, now available in DHIS2! dhis2.org/events/world...

🗓️ 4 March, 11:00 CET

#DHIS2 #WorldPop #PopulationData #OpenSource

Job Opportunity at the University of Southampton: Research Fellows / Senior Research Fellow Be part of the world-renowned WorldPop Group at the University of Southampton, a global top 100 university (QS World Rankings 2026).  WorldPop is an award winning, multi-sectoral team of researchers, ...

We’re hiring at WorldPop 🌍

Join our team as a Research Fellow / Senior Research Fellow and help develop high-resolution population data used by governments & UN agencies worldwide.

📍 Southampton
🗓️ Apply by 18 March 2026
🔗 jobs.soton.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...

#Hiring #ResearchJobs #DataScience

High-Resolution Mapping Sheds Light on Rapid Urban Growth New WorldPop research maps annual building growth across the Global South from 2016–2023, offering high-resolution data to support urban planning, population estimates and disaster preparedness.

New WorldPop research maps urban growth across the Global South 🏙️🛰️

Supporting smarter planning & disaster preparedness 🌍📊

Learn more: www.worldpop.org/blog/high-re...

#UrbanData #GIS #GlobalSouth @uosmedia.bsky.social @sotongeogenviron.bsky.social

WorldPop Newsletter Our regular newsletter reporting our recent open data, population modelling, mapping, geospatial project work supporting Sustainable Development Goals in low- and middle-income countries is now…

📬 Our latest WorldPop Newsletter is live!
Discover new research, data releases & insights shaping population mapping worldwide 🌍📊

Read more: www.worldpop.org/worldpop-new...

#PopulationData #Geospatial #UrbanPlanning #ScienceCommunication #GIS
@uosmedia.bsky.social @sotongeogenviron.bsky.social

Help for planners as cities grow in the Global South New WorldPop research uses satellite building footprints and AI to map residential, commercial and mixed-use areas in Lagos, supporting smarter urban planning in the Global South.

🚀 New WorldPop research maps how buildings are used in Lagos 🏙️🛰️

Supporting smarter urban planning, services & disaster readiness across the Global South 🌍📊

🔗 Learn more: www.worldpop.org/blog/help-fo...

#UrbanData #GIS #GlobalSouth @uosmedia.bsky.social @sotongeogenviron.bsky.social

Researchers reveal global patterns of ‘urban exodus’ Explore how patterns of global "urban exodus" unfolded during the COVID-19 pandemic. This 35-country study reveals diverging population redistribution patterns and provides vital insights for…

🏙️ Urban exodus or temporary escape?

🌍 New data reveals 70% of countries saw population shifts.

Learn more: www.worldpop.org/blog/researc...

#UrbanPlanning #Sustainability #COVID19 #DataScience #Geospatial @uosmedia.bsky.social
@sotongeogenviron.bsky.social

WorldPop/IDAC Webinar: Demographic Gaps for Children on the Move Join WorldPop and IDAC on 19 February for a webinar exploring how AI-enabled methods and novel digital data can bridge critical demographic gaps for children on the move

🤖 Can AI protect children on the move? Join WorldPop & IDAC on 19 Feb (2pm CET) to see how AI bridges data gaps!

🌍 Register: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/0692c0...

#AI #Data4Good #ChildrenOnTheMove
@marziarango.bsky.social @uosmedia.bsky.social @sotongeogenviron.bsky.social

How do you use WorldPop #opendata - or how would you like to use it in the future? We’d love to hear from you.

👉 Take the survey here:
southampton.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Or scan the QR code.

Thank you for helping us build better - together.

@uosmedia.bsky.social

Global Population Data Experts Refute Claims of Systematic Rural Underrepresentation An international team including WorldPop researchers refutes claims of systematic rural underrepresentation in global datasets, proving that high-resolution geospatial mapping remains a robust and…

Not missing - just misplaced! 📢 International research team including WorldPop refute claims that 50% of rural populations are missing from maps. Data remains robust! 🗺️

Learn more: www.worldpop.org/blog/global-...

#Geospatial #DataAccuracy
@sotongeogenviron.bsky.social @uosmedia.bsky.social

Transforming Social Media Signals into Accurate Population Maps for Crisis Response WorldPop researchers unveil a Bayesian framework that transforms biased social media data into accurate, real-time population estimates for disaster response.

📍Where people are right now matters in a crisis. WorldPop is turning anonymised social media data into real-time population insights for smarter aid. 🌍📊🚨

Learn more: www.worldpop.org/blog/transfo...

#HumanitarianData #DisasterResponse #SDGs @sotongeogenviron.bsky.social @uosmedia.bsky.social

Social Media Data for Population Mapping: A Bayesian Approach to Address Representativeness and Privacy Challenges Paolo Andrich, Shengjie Lai, Halim Jun, Qianwen Duan, Zhifeng Cheng, Seth R. Flaxman, Andrew J. Tatem http://arxiv.org/abs/2601.22104 Accurate and timely population data are essential for disaster response and humanitarian planning, but traditional censuses often cannot capture rapid demographic changes. Social media data offer a promising alternative for dynamic population monitoring, but their representativeness remains poorly understood and stringent privacy requirements limit their reliability. Here, we address these limitations in the context of the Philippines by calibrating Facebook user counts with the country's 2020 census figures. First, we find that differential privacy techniques commonly applied to social media-based population datasets disproportionately mask low-population areas. To address this, we propose a Bayesian imputation approach to recover missing values, restoring data coverage for $5.5\%$ of rural areas. Further, using the imputed social media data and leveraging predictors such as urbanisation level, demographic composition, and socio-economic status, we develop a statistical model for the proportion of Facebook users in each municipality, which links observed Facebook user numbers to the true population levels. Out-of-sample validation demonstrates strong result generalisability, with errors as low as ${\approx}18\%$ and ${\approx}24\%$ for urban and rural Facebook user proportions, respectively. We further demonstrate that accounting for overdispersion and spatial correlations in the data is crucial to obtain accurate estimates and appropriate credible intervals. Crucially, as predictors change over time, the models can be used to regularly update the population predictions, providing a dynamic complement to census-based estimates. These results have direct implications for humanitarian response in disaster-prone regions

Social Media Data for Population Mapping: A Bayesian Approach to Address Representativeness and Privacy Challenges

Paolo Andrich, Shengjie Lai, Halim Jun, Qianwen Duan, Zhifeng Cheng, Seth R. Flaxman, Andrew J. Tatem

http://arxiv.org/abs/2601.22104

Strengthening Data Systems Together: WorldPop Meets the DHIS2 Team in Oslo How WorldPop and DHIS2 are working together to embed population data into digital systems serving 3.2 billion people worldwide.

🌍📊 3.2 billion people. One platform. WorldPop met DHIS2 in Oslo to strengthen how population data powers digital public services worldwide.

Learn more: www.worldpop.org/blog/strengt...

#DigitalPublicGoods #DHIS2 @sotongeogenviron.bsky.social @uosmedia.bsky.social @dhis2.org

We were happy to host the WorldPop team from the University of Southampton at the HISP Centre offices at the University of Oslo last week! The team also got an introduction to winter in Norway, with a nighttime toboggan ride. 🛷

We’re looking forward to deepening our partnership with WorldPop!

The sun rising over a cityscape

A new study using data from one billion mobile phones has shown how wealth & age create a hidden divide in how people respond to heatwaves.

The @worldpop-uos.bsky.social research explored whether people were able to stay home or forced to travel for work and essentials.

Read more: bit.ly/4bRjoen

@uosmedia.bsky.social

Celebrating a Milestone: 1 Million Downloads and Counting Celebrate WorldPop’s milestone of 1 million open data downloads and discover how high-resolution population data supports global planning - plus share your WorldPop use case.

1 million downloads and counting 🌍📊 WorldPop open data is shaping decisions worldwide. How have you used it?

Learn more and share your story 👉 www.worldpop.org/blog/celebra...

#OpenData #DataForGood #EvidenceBasedPolicy #SustainableDevelopment @uosmedia.bsky.social

Advancing National Survey Data with Geospatial Innovation in the Arab States A regional UNICEF–MICS–WorldPop workshop shows how geospatial innovation is transforming survey data and strengthening SDG monitoring.

✨ A historic first! #Syria prepares to launch its first digital sampling frame after a regional UNICEF–MICS–WorldPop workshop in Amman.

Learn more: www.worldpop.org/blog/advanci...

#OfficialStatistics #SDGs #MICS #Geospatial #DataForGood #UNICEF #CapacityBuilding @uosmedia.bsky.social

Mapping 25 Years of Vaccination Progress in Nigeria: New High-Resolution Insights High-resolution maps reveal 25 years of childhood vaccination coverage in Nigeria, helping identify zero-dose children and close critical immunisation gaps.

💉 Millions of children are still missing life-saving vaccines. New high-resolution data reveals the location of Nigeria’s zero-dose children and how to reach them.

🔗🔊 Learn more: www.worldpop.org/blog/mapping...

#Vaccines #DataForGood #HealthEquity #GlobalHealth #OpenData @uosmedia.bsky.social

Mapping People, Places and Change: Exploring WorldPop’s Latest Global Data Releases WorldPop releases new open, high-resolution global population and urbanisation data to support better decision-making for health, cities and sustainable development.

Where do populations live and how is it changing? 🌍 Explore WorldPop’s new open, high-resolution global population & urbanisation datasets. 📊 Data for impact.

Learn more: www.worldpop.org/blog/mapping...

#OpenData #GIS #PopulationData #DataForDevelopment #DEGURBA #Global2 @uosmedia.bsky.social

Using QGIS to map 2021/22 census data from the UK Data Service — UK Data Service A comprehensive resource funded by the ESRC to support researchers, teachers and policymakers who depend on high-quality social and economic data.

🗺️ Would you like to learn how to create maps and other geographical visualisations using census data?

On 22 April, we'll be holding a free online workshop on using QGIS to map 2021/22 census data from the UK Data Service.

📅 22 April 2026
⏰ 10:00-12:30
📍 Online
🧷 ukdataservice.ac.uk/events/using...

🌊 When Cyclone Ditwah hit Sri Lanka, the first question was: who was affected?

Using WorldPop’s open population data, analysts estimated 2.3 million people were exposed to flooding - helping responders act faster.

Learn more: www.worldpop.org/blog/how-ope...

#OpenData @uosmedia.bsky.social

A vibrant cityscape at sunset with a glowing orange sun above a densely packed skyline. Tall skyscrapers are silhouetted against the sky, and a river with bridges and a ship runs through the city.

Aerial view of a winding river cutting through an expansive urban landscape. Numerous bridges cross the river, with clusters of skyscrapers and densely packed buildings lining the banks. Green parks and residential areas are scattered throughout the cityscape.

Our researchers (@sotonoceanearth.bsky.social) have found vast areas of densely populated deltas are sinking even faster than sea levels are rising, placing millions at risk of flooding.

Read more 👉 https://tr.ee/TujCXP

WorldPop Strengthens Academic Links with Komar University WorldPop strengthens academic partnerships in the Kurdistan Region, supporting student exchange, research collaboration, and global postgraduate pathways.

Supporting the next generation of researchers 🌱 WorldPop is working with Komar University to expand postgraduate pathways and research collaboration.

Learn more: www.worldpop.org/blog/worldpo...

#GlobalEducation #ResearchForImpact #KurdistanRegion @uosmedia.bsky.social