A report on World population

World population growth from 10,000 BCE to 2021.
High, medium, and low projections of the future human world population
Visual comparison of the world population in past and present
Map showing urban areas with at least one million inhabitants in 2006. Only 3% of the world's population lived in urban areas in 1800; this proportion had risen to 47% by 2000, and reached 50.5% by 2010. By 2050, the proportion may reach 70%.
A map of world population in 2019
Most populous countries, previous decade
Population density (people per km2) map of the world in 1994. Purple and pink areas denote regions of highest population density.
Estimates of population evolution in different continents between 1950 and 2050, according to the United Nations. The vertical axis is logarithmic and is in millions of people.
Map of countries by fertility rate (2020), according to the Population Reference Bureau
Historic chart showing the periods of time the world population has taken to double, from 1700 to 2000
Estimated world population figures, 10,000 BC–AD 2000
Estimated world population figures, 10,000 BC–AD 2000 (in log y scale)
World population figures, 1950–2017
High, medium, and low projections of the future human world population

Often used to refer to the total number of humans currently living, and was estimated to have exceeded 7.9 billion.

- World population
World population growth from 10,000 BCE to 2021.

18 related topics with Alpha

Overall
Absolute increase in global human population per year

Population growth

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Increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group.

Increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group.

Absolute increase in global human population per year
World human population estimates from 1800 to 2100, with estimated range of future population after 2020 based on "high" and "low" scenarios. Data from the United Nations projections in 2019.
The logistic growth of a population.
Estimates of population evolution in different continents between 1950 and 2050 according to the United Nations. The vertical axis is logarithmic and is in millions of people. (2011)
World population growth rates between 1950 and 2050
Nilkhet Mor in Dhaka by Nahid 02. Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.
Estimated size of human population from 10,000 BCE to 2000 CE.
The majority of world population growth today is occurring in less developed countries.

The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 7.9 billion in 2020.

The spread of the Black Death in Europe, North Africa, and the Near East (1346–1353)

Black Death

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Bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Afro-Eurasia from 1346 to 1353.

Bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Afro-Eurasia from 1346 to 1353.

The spread of the Black Death in Europe, North Africa, and the Near East (1346–1353)
The spread of the Black Death in Europe, North Africa, and the Near East (1346–1353)
Yersinia pestis (200 × magnification), the bacterium which causes plague
Skeletons in a mass grave from 1720 to 1721 in Martigues, near Marseille in southern France, yielded molecular evidence of the orientalis strain of Yersinia pestis, the organism responsible for bubonic plague. The second pandemic of bubonic plague was active in Europe from 1347, the beginning of the Black Death, until 1750.
A hand showing how acral gangrene of the fingers due to bubonic plague causes the skin and flesh to die and turn black
An inguinal bubo on the upper thigh of a person infected with bubonic plague. Swollen lymph nodes (buboes) often occur in the neck, armpit and groin (inguinal) regions of plague victims.
Inspired by the Black Death, The Dance of Death, or Danse Macabre, an allegory on the universality of death, was a common painting motif in the late medieval period.
Citizens of Tournai bury plague victims
Jews being burned at the stake in 1349. Miniature from a 14th-century manuscript Antiquitates Flandriae
Pieter Bruegel's The Triumph of Death reflects the social upheaval and terror that followed plague, which devastated medieval Europe.
The Great Plague of London, in 1665, killed up to 100,000 people.
A plague doctor and his typical apparel during the 17th Century Outbreak.
Contemporaneous painting of Marseille during the Great Plague in 1720
Worldwide distribution of plague-infected animals, 1998

The plague might have reduced the world population from c. 475 million to 350–375 million in the 14th century.

Chart published by NASA depicting CO2 levels from the past 400,000 years.

Human impact on the environment

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Human impact on the environment (or anthropogenic impact) refers to changes to biophysical environments and to ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources caused directly or indirectly by humans.

Human impact on the environment (or anthropogenic impact) refers to changes to biophysical environments and to ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources caused directly or indirectly by humans.

Chart published by NASA depicting CO2 levels from the past 400,000 years.
Reduction of one's carbon footprint for various actions.
Human population from 10000 BCE to 2000 CE, increasing sevenfold after the eighteenth century.
Lacanja burn
Fishing down the foodweb
Urban sprawl in California
Soil erosion in Madagascar
Worldwide, the animal industry provides only 18% of calories, but uses 83% of agricultural land and emits 58% of food's greenhouse gas emissions.
A village palm oil press "malaxeur" in Bandundu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Child demonstrating for actions to protect the environment (2018)
Summary of major biodiversity-related environmental-change categories expressed as a percentage of human-driven change (in red) relative to baseline (blue)
The primary causes and the wide-ranging effects of global warming and resulting climate change. Some effects constitute feedback mechanisms that intensify climate change and move it toward climate tipping points.
Acid mine drainage in the Rio Tinto River
Smog in Beijing, China
Anti-nuclear protest near nuclear waste disposal centre at Gorleben in northern Germany
Kiviõli Oil Shale Processing & Chemicals Plant in ida-Virumaa, Estonia
The Wachusett Dam in Clinton, Massachusetts
Waste generation, measured in kilograms per person per day
Great Pacific garbage patch
Interstate 10 and Interstate 45 near downtown Houston, Texas in the United States
An Agent Orange spray run by aircraft, part of Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War
A composite image of artificial light emissions from Earth at night
The rate of global tree cover loss has approximately doubled since 2001, to an annual loss approaching an area the size of Italy.

Some scholars, environmentalists and advocates have linked human population growth or population size as a driver of environmental issues, including some suggesting this indicates an overpopulation scenario.

Human

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Humans (Homo sapiens) are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and large, complex brains.

Humans (Homo sapiens) are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and large, complex brains.

Reconstruction of Lucy, the first Australopithecus afarensis skeleton found
Overview map of the peopling of the world by early human migration during the Upper Paleolithic, following to the Southern Dispersal paradigm.
Routes taken by barbarian invaders of the Roman Empire during the Migration Period
Humans and their domesticated animals represent 96% of all mammalian biomass on earth, whereas all wild mammals represent only 4%.
Basic anatomical features of female and male humans. These models have had body hair and male facial hair removed and head hair trimmed. The female model is wearing red nail polish on her toenails and a ring.
A graphical representation of the standard human karyotype, including both the male (XY) and female (XX) sex chromosomes.
A 10 mm human embryo at 5 weeks
Humans living in Bali, Indonesia, preparing a meal.
Changes in the number and order of genes (A-D) create genetic diversity within and between population
A Libyan, a Nubian, a Syrian, and an Egyptian, drawing by an unknown artist after a mural of the tomb of Seti I.
Drawing of the human brain, showing several important structures
Illustration of grief from Charles Darwin's 1872 book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals.
Parents can display familial love for their children
The Deluge tablet of the Gilgamesh epic in Akkadian
The SCMaglev, the fastest train in the world clocking in at 375 mph as of 2015
Shango, the Orisha of fire, lightning, and thunder, in the Yoruba religion, depicted on horseback
The Dunhuang map, a star map showing the North Polar region. China circa 700.
Humans often live in family-based social structures.
The United Nations Headquarters in New York City, which houses one of the world's largest political organizations
The Silk Road (red) and spice trade routes (blue)

The human population is not, however, uniformly distributed on the Earth's surface, because the population density varies from one region to another, and large stretches of surface are almost completely uninhabited, like Antarctica and vast swathes of the ocean.

Influenza intervals in the CDC's Pandemic Intervals Framework

Pandemic

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Epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals.

Epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals.

Influenza intervals in the CDC's Pandemic Intervals Framework
Estimated HIV/AIDS prevalence among young adults (15-49) by country as of 2008
Total confirmed cases of COVID‑19 per million people
Aztecs dying of smallpox, Florentine Codex (compiled 1540–1585)
Pieter Bruegel's The Triumph of Death (c. 1562) reflects the social upheaval and terror that followed the plague, which devastated medieval Europe.
1918 Chicago newspaper headlines reflect mitigation strategies for the Spanish flu, such as increased ventilation, arrests for "open-face sneezes and coughs", sequenced inoculations, limitations on crowd size, selective closing of businesses, curfews, and lockdowns.
Child with Smallpox, c. 1908
In 2007, the prevalence of TB per 100,000 people was highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, and was also relatively high in Asian countries, e.g. India.
Past and current malaria prevalence in 2009
Illustration created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals xultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses; note the spikes that adorn the outer surface, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion.
President Barack Obama is briefed in the Situation Room about the 2009 flu pandemic, which killed as many as 17,000 Americans
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, convention centers (pictured here) were deemed to be ideal sites for temporary hospitals, due to their existing infrastructure (electrical, water, sewage). Hotels and dormitories were also considered appropriate because they can use negative pressure technology.

In the 20th century, the world saw the biggest increase in its population in human history due to a drop in the mortality rate in many countries as a result of medical advances.

17th-century German "plague panel" depicting the triumph of death. Panels of this kind were placed on the walls of houses to warn against the plague. A plague epidemic raged in Augsburg, Bavaria between 1632 and 1635.

List of epidemics

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List of the largest known epidemics and pandemics caused by an infectious disease.

List of the largest known epidemics and pandemics caused by an infectious disease.

17th-century German "plague panel" depicting the triumph of death. Panels of this kind were placed on the walls of houses to warn against the plague. A plague epidemic raged in Augsburg, Bavaria between 1632 and 1635.

For the historical records of major changes in the world population, see world population.

The Demography of the World Population from 1950 to 2100. Data source: United Nations — World Population Prospects 2017

Demography

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Statistical study of populations, especially human beings.

Statistical study of populations, especially human beings.

The Demography of the World Population from 1950 to 2100. Data source: United Nations — World Population Prospects 2017
Map of countries by population
Rate of human population growth showing projections for later this century

The figure in this section shows the latest (2004) UN (United Nations) projections of world population out to the year 2150 (red = high, orange = medium, green = low).

World population growth 1700–2100

Projections of population growth

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World population growth 1700–2100
World population prospects, 2022
Map of countries by fertility rate (2020), according to the Population Reference Bureau
Estimates of population levels in different continents between 1950 and 2050, according to the United Nations (2011 edition). The vertical axis is logarithmic and is in millions of people.
World population estimates from 1800 to 2100, based on "high", "medium" and "low" United Nations projections in 2010 (colored red, orange and green) and US Census Bureau historical estimates (in black). Actual recorded population figures (as of 2010) are colored in blue. According to the highest estimate, the world population may rise to 16 billions by 2100; according to the lowest estimate, it may decline to 7.2 billions.
Total Fertility Rate for six regions and the world, 1950-2100

Population projections are attempts to show how the human population statistics might change in the future.

Life expectancy in USA, China and Russia, 1960–2020

Life expectancy

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Statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, its current age, and other demographic factors like sex.

Statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, its current age, and other demographic factors like sex.

Life expectancy in USA, China and Russia, 1960–2020
Life expectancy in the largest European countries, 1960–2020
Life expectancy at birth, measured by region, between 1950 and 2050
Life expectancy by world region, from 1770 to 2018
Gender Die Gap: global gender life expectancy gap at birth for countries and territories as defined by WHO for 2019. Open the original svg-file and hover over a bubble to show its data. The square of the bubbles is proportional to country population based on estimation of the UN.
Life expectancy in 1800, 1950, and 2015 – visualization by Our World in Data
Plot of life expectancy vs. GDP per capita in 2009. This phenomenon is known as the Preston curve.
Graphs of life expectancy at birth for some sub-Saharan countries showing the fall in the 1990s primarily due to the HIV pandemic.
Life expectancy is higher in rich countries with low economic inequality
Life expectancy vs healthcare spending of rich OECD countries.
Pink: Countries where females life expectancy at birth is higher than males. Blue: A few countries in the south of Africa where females have shorter lives due to AIDS
"Healthspan, parental lifespan, and longevity are highly genetically correlated"
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Life expectancy in the seriously mentally ill is much shorter than the general population.
A survival tree to explain the calculations of life-expectancy. Red numbers indicate a chance of survival at a specific age, and blue ones indicate age-specific death rates.

Unless otherwise stated, it represents estimates of the life expectancies of the world population as a whole.

Population decline

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Reduction in a human population size.

Reduction in a human population size.

Over the long term, stretching from prehistory to the present, Earth's total human population has continued to grow; however, current projections suggest that this long-term trend of steady population growth may be coming to an end.