JRC The Global Human Settlement
The Global Human Settlement (GHS) annual population dataset provides worldwide information on population distribution from 2000 to 2021 It reports population counts per grid cell, enabling analysis of population distribution, urban growth, and human exposure to risk. This dataset release improves the accuracy of long-term population trends, particularly in rural areas.
Dataset details:
The dataset supports international policy goals such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and disaster risk reduction efforts. It is produced by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) under the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) initiative. Population estimates are derived from harmonized census data from GPWv4.11, which are redistributed from administrative units to grid cells. The model combines these data with information on built-up areas from GHSL to better locate populations within residential zones. Satellite observations from Landsat and Sentinel-2 imagery are used to support the respective epochs in generating the population estimates.
| Collection type | Static |
| Temporal coverage | 2000–2021 |
| Access interfaces | S3 cloud access, STAC (available soon) |
| Path to repository | s3://eodata/auxdata/external/pop_count_ghs_jrc/ |
| Product count | 22 |
| Size | 78 GB |
| Satellite data used | Landsat 1–5, Landsat 7, Sentinel 2 |
| Data Type | Population Density Raster |
| Processing Level | L4 |
| File Format | Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF (COG, .tif) |
| Spatial Resolution | 100 m |
| Coordinate Reference System | EPSG:4326 |
| Spatial coverage | Global |
| License | CC-BY-4.0 |