Gridded Population Structure Datasets for the Indus River Basin under Shared Socioeconomic Pathways 2020-2100.

The Indus River Basin is one of the most densely populated transboundary river basins in the world and is the region with the most serious water disputes. Given the current population's rapid growth, inclusive and high-resolution datasets are urgently needed to assess how this growth will affect the distribution of resources and the sustainability of the environment. Here we present a population gridded dataset for the Indus River Basin with a resolution of 2.5 arc-minutes (~5 km). Based on the historical population distribution and the provincial (state) demographic parameters of the four countries, Afghanistan, China, India, and Pakistan, we projected the population size and structure (age, sex) changes under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP1-5) for the period of 2020-2100 on each grid in the Indus River Basin. The dataset was well verified by comparing it with the observed population gridded dataset in 62,140 grids in the basin. The dataset can be useful sources for further research in resource management, sustainable development initiatives, and assessment of climate change impact.