This data release provides gridded population distributions (spatial resolution of 30 arc-seconds, approximately 1km grid cells) globally for 2025-2100, quantitatively consistent with the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) national population scenarios. For more details about the datasets, please refer to the release statement here. For more information about the FuturePop project and upcoming datasets, please see the project site.

The SSPs narrative are summarised in the table below:

SSP	Challenges	llustrative starting points for narratives
SSP 1	Low for mitigation and adaptation	Low for mitigation and adaptation Sustainable development proceeds at a reasonably high pace, inequalities are lessened, technological change is rapid and directed toward environmentally friendly processes, including lower carbon energy sources and high productivity of land.
SSP 2	Moderate	An intermediate case between SSP1 and SSP3.
SSP 3	High for mitigation and adaptation	Unmitigated emissions are high due to moderate economic growth, a rapidly growing population, and slow technological change in the energy sector, making mitigation difficult. Investments in human capital are low, inequality is high, a regionalized world leads to reduced trade flows, and institutional development is unfavorable, leaving large numbers of people vulnerable to climate change and many parts of the world with low adaptive capacity.
SSP 4	High for adaptation, low for mitigation	A mixed world, with relatively rapid technological development in low carbon energy sources in key emitting regions, leading to relatively large mitigative capacity in places where it mattered most to global emissions. However, in other regions development proceeds slowly, inequality remains high, and economies are relatively isolated, leaving these regions highly vulnerable to climate change with limited adaptive capacity.
SSP 5	High for mitigation, low for adaptation	In the absence of climate policies, energy demand is high and most of this demand is met with carbon-based fuels. Investments in alternative energy technologies are low, and there are few readily available options for mitigation. Nonetheless, economic development is relatively rapid and itself is driven by high investments in human capital. Improved human capital also produces a more equitable distribution of resources, stronger institutions, and slower population growth, leading to a less vulnerable world better able to adapt to climate impacts.

Source: O’Neill, B. C., Kriegler, E., Riahi, K., Ebi, K. L., Hallegatte, S., Carter, T. R., Mathur, R., & van Vuuren, D. P. (2014). A new scenario framework for climate change research: the concept of shared socioeconomic pathways. Climatic Change, 122(3), 387–400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-013-0905-2