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{{Short description|Total number of living humans on Earth}}
{{Duplicated citations|reason=[[User:Polygnotus/DuplicateReferences|DuplicateReferences]] detected:<br/>
* https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Standard/Mortality/ (refs: 8, 125)<br/>
* https://web.archive.org/web/20160205063346/http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/sixbillion/sixbilpart1.pdf (refs: 60, 116)<br/>
* https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Standard/Population/ (refs: 66, 124)<br/>
* https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Files/1_Indicators%20(Standard)/EXCEL_FILES/1_Population/WPP2019_POP_F01_1_TOTAL_POPULATION_BOTH_SEXES.xlsx (refs: 94, 139)<br/>
* https://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/sixbillion/sixbillion.htm (refs: 113, 118)<br/>
* https://www.census.gov/population/international/data/worldpop/table_population.php (refs: 121, 140)<br/>
|date=September 2024}}
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{{Use American English|date=November 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=
[[File:World Population Prospects.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|High, medium, and low projections of the future human world population<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=World Population Prospects 2022, Graphs / Profiles |url=https://population.un.org/wpp/Graphs/Probabilistic/POP/TOT/900 |access-date= |publisher=United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division}}</ref>]]
In [[demographics of the world|world demographics]], the '''world population''' is the total number of
The human population has experienced [[Population growth|continuous growth]] following the [[Great Famine of 1315–1317]] and the end of the [[Black Death]] in 1350, when it was nearly 370,000,000.<ref>Jean-Noël Biraben (1980), "An Essay Concerning Mankind's Evolution". ''Population'', Selected Papers. Vol. 4. pp. 1–13. Original paper in French:(b) Jean-Noël Biraben (1979)."Essai sur l'évolution du nombre des hommes". ''Population''. Vol. 34 (no. 1). pp. 13–25.</ref> The highest global [[List of countries by population growth rate|population growth rates]], with increases of over 1.8% per year, occurred between 1955 and 1975, peaking at 2.1% between 1965 and 1970.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |url=https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/DataQuery/ |title=World Population Prospects |publisher=United Nations|access-date=15 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919061238/https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/DataQuery/|archive-date=19 September 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The growth rate declined to 1.1% between 2015 and 2020 and is projected to decline further in the 21st century.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |date=2019 |title=World Population Prospects, Standard Projections, Archive, 2019 Revision |url=https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Archive/Standard/ |website=United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division}}</ref> The global population is still increasing, but there is significant uncertainty about its long-term trajectory due to changing [[Total fertility rate|fertility]] and [[Mortality rate|mortality]] rates.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ortiz-Ospina |first1=Esteban |last2=Roser |first2=Max |date=9 May 2013 |title=World Population Growth |url=https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth |journal=Our World in Data|access-date=13 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013144559/https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth/|archive-date=13 October 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[UN Department of Economics and Social Affairs]] projects between 9 and 10 billion people by 2050 and gives an 80% [[confidence interval]] of 10–12 billion by the end of the 21st century,<ref name=":4" /> with a growth rate by then of zero. Other [[Demography|demographers]] predict that the human population will begin to decline in the second half of the 21st century.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Cave |first1=Damien |last2=Bubola |first2=Emma |last3=Sang-Hun |first3=Choe |date=22 May 2021 |title=Long Slide Looms for World Population, With Sweeping Ramifications |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/22/world/global-population-shrinking.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/22/world/global-population-shrinking.html |archive-date=28 December 2021 |url-access=limited|access-date=23 May 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
The total number of births globally is currently (2015–2020) 140 million/year, which is projected to peak during the period 2040–2045 at 141 million/year and then decline slowly to 126 million/year by 2100.<ref name=":2" /> The total number of deaths is currently 57 million/year and is projected to grow steadily to 121 million/year by 2100.<ref name=":3" />
The [[median]] [[median age|age]] of human beings {{As of|2020|lc=y}} is 31 years.<ref name=":0">{{Citation |title=World |date=19 October 2021 |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/world/ |work=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |language=en|access-date=1 November 2021}}</ref>
==History==
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Estimates of the population of the world at the time agriculture emerged in around 10,000 BC have ranged between 1 million and 15 million.<ref>{{cite book |author=Luc-Normand Tellier |date=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cXuCjDbxC1YC&pg=PA26 |title=Urban world history: an economic and geographical perspective |page=26 |isbn=978-2-7605-1588-8}}</ref><ref>Ralph Thomlinson, 1975, Demographic Problems: Controversy over population control, 2nd Ed., Dickenson Publishing Company, Ecino, CA, {{ISBN|0-8221-0166-1}}.</ref> Even earlier, genetic evidence suggests humans may have gone through a population bottleneck of between 1,000 and 10,000 people about 70,000 BC, according to the now largely discredited [[Toba catastrophe theory]]. By contrast, it is estimated that around 50–60 million people lived in the combined eastern and western [[Roman Empire]] in the 4th century AD.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tulane.edu/~august/H303/handouts/Population.htm |title=Population estimates of the Roman Empire |year=1998 |publisher=Tulane.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507061006/http://www.tulane.edu/~august/H303/handouts/Population.htm|archive-date=7 May 2016 |author=Dr. Kenneth W. Harl |access-date=8 December 2012}}</ref>
The [[Plague of Justinian]] caused Europe's population to drop by around 50% between the 6th and 8th centuries AD.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-diseases/plague-article.html |title=Plague, Plague Information, Black Death Facts, News, Photos |work=National Geographic |access-date=3 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722230538/http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-diseases/plague-article.html |archive-date=22 July 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The population of Europe was more than 70 million in 1340.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/195896/history-of-Europe/276190/Demographic-and-agricultural-growth#ref=ref994290 |title=History of Europe – Demographic and agricultural growth |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |year=2012|access-date=17 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121220154316/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/195896/history-of-Europe/276190/Demographic-and-agricultural-growth#ref=ref994290|archive-date=20 December 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> From 1340 to 1400, the world's population fell from an estimated 443 million to 350–375 million,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/population/international/data/worldpop/table_history.php |title=Historical Estimates of World Population |publisher=Census.gov|access-date=12 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709092946/https://www.census.gov/population/international/data/worldpop/table_history.php|archive-date=9 July 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> with the [[Indian subcontinent]] suffering the most tremendous loss and Europe suffering the [[Black Death]] [[pandemic]];<ref name="Essai sur l'évolution du nombre des hommes">{{cite journal |last1=Biraben |first1=Jean-Noël |title=Essai sur l'évolution du nombre des hommes |journal=Population |year=1979 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=13–25 |doi=10.2307/1531855 |jstor=1531855 |s2cid=143406315 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1531855 |access-date=11 February 2022 |issn = 0032-4663}}</ref> it took 200 years for European population figures to recover.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Jay |first=Peter |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2050585,00.html |title=A Distant Mirror |journal=TIME Europe |date=17 July 2000 |volume=156 |issue=3 |access-date=9 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080725005418/http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/2000/0717/peter.html |archive-date=25 July 2008}}</ref> The population of China decreased from 123 million in 1200 to 65 million in 1393,<ref>{{cite book |author=Horst R. Thieme |date=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHcjnkrMweYC&pg=PA285 |title=Mathematics in population biology |page=285 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-09291-1}}</ref> presumably from a combination of [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]] invasions, famine, and plague.<ref>{{cite book |author=Graziella Caselli |author2=Gillaume Wunsch |author3=Jacques Vallin |name-list-style=amp |date=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nmgNXoiAiU4C&pg=RA2-PA34 |title=Demography: Analysis and Synthesis, Four Volume Set: A Treatise in Population |page=34 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-765660-1}}</ref>
Starting in AD 2, the [[Han dynasty]] of [[ancient China]] kept consistent family registers to properly assess the poll taxes and labor service duties of each household.<ref name="nishijima 1986 pp595-96">Nishijima, Sadao (1986), "The economic and social history of Former Han", in Twitchett, Denis; Loewe, Michael, ''Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp 595–96.</ref> In that year, the population of [[Western Han]] was recorded as 57,671,400 individuals in 12,366,470 households, decreasing to 47,566,772 individuals in 9,348,227 households by AD 146, towards the [[end of the Han dynasty]].<ref name="nishijima 1986 pp595-96"/> From 200 to 400, the world population fell from an estimated 257 million to 206 million, with China suffering the greatest loss.<ref name="Essai sur l'évolution du nombre des hommes"/> At the founding of the [[Ming dynasty]] in 1368, China's population was reported to be close to 60 million; toward the end of the dynasty in 1644, it may have approached 150 million.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1750_demographic.htm |title=Qing China's Internal Crisis: Land Shortage, Famine, Rural Poverty |year=2009 |publisher=[[Columbia University]]: Asia for Educators|access-date= 9 July 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110708082757/http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1750_demographic.htm|archive-date= 8 July 2011|url-status= live}}</ref> England's population reached an estimated 5.6 million in 1650, up from an estimated 2.6 million in 1500.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/195896/history-of-Europe/58335/Demographics#ref=ref310375 |title=History of Europe – Demographics |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=9 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723052625/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/195896/history-of-Europe/58335/Demographics#ref=ref310375|archive-date=23 July 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> New crops that were brought to Asia and Europe from the Americas by Portuguese and Spanish colonists in the 16th century are believed to have contributed to population growth.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/china/geog/population.htm |title=China's Population: Readings and Maps |publisher=Columbia University: East Asian Curriculum Project|access-date= 18 December 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110719173803/http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/china/geog/population.htm|archive-date= 19 July 2011|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-twoworlds/1866 |title=The Columbian Exchange |publisher=[[University of North Carolina]]|access-date= 18 December 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url= http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110726194333/http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-twoworlds/1866|archive-date= 26 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Vindaloo: the Portuguese and the chilli pepper. Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors. |last=Collingham |first=Lizzie |author-link=Lizzie Collingham |publisher=Oxford: Oxford University Press. |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-19-988381-3 |pages=47–73}}</ref> Since their introduction to Africa by Portuguese traders in the 16th century,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/suprtubr.htm |title=Super-Sized Cassava Plants May Help Fight Hunger in Africa |publisher=[[Ohio State University]] |date=24 May 2006|access-date= 9 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131208143623/http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/suprtubr.htm|archive-date= 8 December 2013}}</ref>
The [[Pre-Columbian era|pre-Columbian]] population of the Americas is uncertain; historian David Henige called it "the most unanswerable question in the world."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.usna.edu/Users/history/kolp/HH345/PRE1492.HTM |title=U.S. News & World Report: How many people were here before Columbus? Pick a number |date=18 August 1997|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305224956/http://www.usna.edu/Users/history/kolp/HH345/PRE1492.HTM|access-date=9 August 2019|archive-date=5 March 2008}}</ref> By the end of the 20th century, scholarly consensus favored an estimate of roughly 55 million people, but numbers from various sources have ranged from 10 million to 100 million.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Microchronology and Demographic Evidence Relating to the Size of Pre-Columbian North American Indian Populations |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |date=16 June 1995 |doi=10.1126/science.268.5217.1601 |pmid=17754613 |volume=268 |issue=5217 |pages=1601–1604 |last1=Snow |first1=D. R |bibcode=1995Sci...268.1601S |s2cid=8512954}}</ref> Encounters between European explorers and populations in the rest of the world often introduced local [[List of epidemics|epidemics]] of extraordinary virulence.<ref>{{cite book |author=Arthur C. Aufderheide |author2=Conrado Rodríguez-Martín |author3=Odin Langsjoen|name-list-style=amp |date=1998 |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgeencyclo0000aufd |url-access=registration |title=The Cambridge encyclopedia of human paleopathology |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgeencyclo0000aufd/page/205 205] |isbn=978-0-521-55203-5}}</ref> According to the most extreme scholarly claims, as many as 90% of the [[Population history of indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American population]] of the [[New World]] died of [[Old World]] diseases such as [[smallpox]], [[measles]], and [[influenza]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html |title=The Story Of... Smallpox – and other Deadly Eurasian Germs |publisher=Public Broadcasting Service |year=2005|access-date=24 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129120446/http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html|archive-date=29 January 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Over the centuries, the Europeans had developed high degrees of immunity to these diseases, while the indigenous peoples had no such immunity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Austin Alchon |first=Suzanne |title=A pest in the land: new world epidemics in a global perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YiHHnV08ebkC&pg=PA31 |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |date=2003 |page=31 |isbn=978-0-8263-2871-7 | access-date = 15 November 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160518062224/https://books.google.com/books?id=YiHHnV08ebkC&pg=PA31&dq | archive-date = 18 May 2016 | url-status = live}}</ref>
===Modern history===
[[File:
During the European [[British Agricultural Revolution|Agricultural]] and [[Industrial Revolution]]s, the [[life expectancy]] of children increased dramatically.<ref>{{citation |url=http://home.vicnet.net.au/~ozideas/poprus.htm |title=Population crises and cycles in history – A review by Claire Russell and W.M.S. Russell |publisher=Vicnet.net.au|access-date=26 March 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110405081151/http://home.vicnet.net.au/~ozideas/poprus.htm|archive-date=5 April 2011}}</ref> The percentage of the children born in London who [[infant mortality|died before the age of five]] decreased from 74.5% in 1730–1749 to 31.8% in 1810–1829.<ref name=Buer>{{cite book |first=Mabel C. |last=Buer |title=Health, Wealth and Population in the Early Days of the Industrial Revolution |url=https://archive.org/details/b29977368 |location=London |publisher=George Routledge & Sons |date=1926 |page=[https://archive.org/details/b29977368/page/30 30] |isbn=978-0-415-38218-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/foundling_01.shtml |title=The Foundling Hospital |publisher=BBC History |date=5 October 2012|access-date=22 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617072755/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/foundling_01.shtml|archive-date=17 June 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Between 1700 and 1900, Europe's population increased from about 100 million to over 400 million.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/387301/modernization/12022/Population-change |title=Modernization – Population Change |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=6 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406074344/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/387301/modernization/12022/Population-change|archive-date=6 April 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> Altogether, the areas populated by people of European descent comprised 36% of the world's population in 1900.<ref>{{cite book |author=Graziella Caselli |author2=Gillaume Wunsch |author3=Jacques Vallin|name-list-style=amp |date=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nmgNXoiAiU4C&pg=RA2-PA42 |title=Demography: Analysis and Synthesis, Four Volume Set: A Treatise in Population |page=42 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-765660-1}}</ref>
Population growth in the
The first half of the 20th century in [[Russian Empire|Imperial Russia]] and the [[Soviet Union]] was marked by a succession of major wars, [[famine]]s and other disasters which caused large-scale population losses (approximately 60 million excess deaths).<ref>{{cite book |author=Jay Winter, Emmanuel Sivan |title=War and Remembrance in the Twentieth Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZK2A5x7E8IkC&pg=PA64 |date=2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521794367 |page=64| access-date=20 July 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904015129/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZK2A5x7E8IkC&pg=PA64| archive-date=4 September 2015| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Mark Harrison |date=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yJcD7_Q_rQ8C&pg=PA167 |title=Accounting for War: Soviet Production, Employment, and the Defence Burden, 1940–1945 |page=167 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-89424-1}}</ref> After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia's population declined significantly – from 150 million in 1991 to 143 million in 2012<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/vladimir-putin/9078672/Vladimir-Putin-vows-to-reverse-Russian-population-decline.html |title=Vladimir Putin vows to reverse Russian population decline |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=13 February 2012|access-date=13 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424133957/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/vladimir-putin/9078672/Vladimir-Putin-vows-to-reverse-Russian-population-decline.html|archive-date=24 April 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> – but by 2013 this decline appeared to have halted.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-demography-health-birthrate-deaths/24998304.html |title=Russia's Population Decline Said To Have 'Stopped' |publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=27 May 2013|access-date=15 June 2013}}</ref>
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|{{legend|#FF4500|50–55}}
}} 2015 map showing average life expectancy by country in years. In 2015, the World Health Organization estimated the average global life expectancy as 71.4 years.<ref name="WHOStats2016">{{cite web |title=World Health Statistics 2016: Monitoring health for the SDGs Annex B: tables of health statistics by country, WHO region and globally |publisher=World Health Organization |url=https://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/2016/EN_WHS2016_AnnexB.pdf |page=110 |year=2016 |access-date=3 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517033759/http://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/2016/EN_WHS2016_AnnexB.pdf |archive-date=17 May 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
As of 2020, the global [[Human sex ratio|sex ratio]] is approximately 1.01 males to 1 female.<ref name=
According to the [[World Health Organization]], the global average [[List of countries by life expectancy|life expectancy]] is 73.3 years as of 2020, with women living an average of 75.9 years and men approximately 70.8 years.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.688 |title=WHO, 2020 Life Expectancy |publisher=World Health Organization|access-date=27 July 2022}}</ref> In 2010, the global [[fertility rate]] was estimated at 2.44 children per woman.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Children per woman |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/children-per-woman-UN|access-date=1 November 2021 |website=Our World in Data}}</ref> In June 2012, British researchers calculated the total weight of Earth's human population as approximately {{convert|287|e6t|e9lb|abbr=off}}, with the average person weighing around {{convert|62|kg|lb}}.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18462985 |title=Global weight gain more damaging than rising numbers |publisher=BBC |date=18 June 2012|access-date=12 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204103058/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18462985|archive-date=4 February 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>
The [[International Monetary Fund|IMF]] estimated nominal 2021 [[gross world product]] at US$94.94 trillion, giving an annual global per capita figure of around US$12,290.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Economic Outlook (October 2021) |url=https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/datasets/WEO|access-date=1 November 2021 |website=Imf.org}}</ref> Around 9.3% of the world population live in [[extreme poverty]], subsisting on less than US$1.9 per day;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Poverty headcount ratio at $1.90 a day (2011 PPP) (% of population) {{!}} Data|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY|access-date=1 November 2021|publisher=World Bank}}</ref> around 8.9% are [[Malnutrition|malnourished]].<ref>[http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i3027e/i3027e02.pdf Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, ''The State of Food Insecurity in the World''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611064129/http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i3027e/i3027e02.pdf |date=11 June 2014 }}. WorldHunger.org. 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.</ref> 87% of the world's over-15s are considered [[literacy rate|literate]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 2021 |title=Literacy Rate, Adult Total (% of people ages 15 and above) |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS |website=The World Bank}}</ref> As of
The [[Han Chinese]] are the world's largest single ethnic group, constituting over 19% of the global population in 2011.<ref>
The largest religious categories in the world as of 2020 are estimated as follows: [[Christianity]] (31%), [[Islam]] (25%), [[Irreligion|Unaffiliated]] (16%) and [[Hinduism]] (15%).<ref name="Pew">{{Cite web |date=2 April 2015 |title=Religious Composition by Country, 2010–2050 |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projection-table/2010/number/all/ |publisher=Pew Research Center |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221100556/https://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projection-table/2010/number/all/ |archive-date= 2021-12-21}}</ref>
==Population by region==
{{
Six of the Earth's seven [[continent]]s are permanently inhabited on a large scale. Asia is the most populous continent, with its 4.64 billion inhabitants accounting for 60% of the world population. The world's two most populated countries, India and China, together constitute about 36% of the world's population. Africa is the second most populated continent, with around 1.34 billion people, or 17% of the world's population. Europe's 747 million people make up 10% of the world's population as of 2020,while the [[Latin American]] and [[Caribbean]] regions are home to around 653 million (8%). Northern America, primarily consisting of the United States and Canada, has a population of around 368 million (5%), and Oceania, the least populated region, has about 42 million inhabitants (0.5%).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-region/|website=Worldometer |title=Regions in the world by population (2020) |access-date=5 October 2020}}</ref> [[Antarctica]] only has a very small, fluctuating population of about 1200 people based mainly in polar [[Research stations in Antarctica|science stations]].<ref name=AntarcticCIA/>
[[File:Population pyramid of the world in continental groupings 2023.svg|thumb|300x300px|[[Population pyramid]] of the world in continental groupings in 2023. The left and right sides of the vertical axis represent different sexes (male and female).]]
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+Current world population and latest projection according to the
! Region !! 2022 (percent)!!2030 (percent)!!2050 (percent)
|-
| [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] || '''1,152''' (14.51%)||'''1,401''' (16.46%)||'''2,094''' (21.62%)
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
| World || '''7,942'''||'''8,512'''||'''9,687'''
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| style="text-align:right" | {{#expr:4641054775/44579000 round 1}}
| style="text-align:right" | 4,641
| data-sort-value="14118e5" |1,
| data-sort-value="135e5" |13,515,000 {{ndash}} {{flagicon|Japan}} [[Tokyo|Tokyo Metropolis]]<br/>(37,400,000 {{ndash}} {{flagicon|Japan}} [[Greater Tokyo Area]])
|-
Line 168 ⟶ 171:
| style="text-align:right" | 747
| data-sort-value="146e6" | {{0|0,}}146,171,000 {{ndash}} {{Flag|Russia}}, approx. [[European Russia|110 million in Europe]]
| data-sort-value="132e5" |13,200,000 {{ndash}} {{flagicon|Russia}}
|-
|
| style="text-align:right" | {{#expr:430759766/17840000 round 1}}
| style="text-align:right" | 653
Line 176 ⟶ 179:
| data-sort-value="122e5" | 12,252,000 {{ndash}} {{flagicon|Brazil}} [[São Paulo|São Paulo City]]<br/>(21,650,000 {{ndash}} {{flagicon|Brazil}} [[Greater São Paulo|São Paulo Metro Area]])
|-
|
| style="text-align:right" | {{#expr: 368869647/24709000 round 1}}
| style="text-align:right" | 368
| data-sort-value="332e6" | {{0|0,}}332,909,000 {{ndash}} {{Flag|United States}}
| data-sort-value="88e5" | {{0}}8,804,000 {{ndash}} {{flagicon|United States}}
|-
|
| style="text-align:right" | {{#expr:42677813/8525989 round 1}}
| style="text-align:right" | 42
Line 190 ⟶ 193:
| [[Antarctica]]
| style="text-align:right" | ~0
| style="text-align:right" | 0.004<ref name="AntarcticCIA">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/antarctica/ |publisher=CIA |title=Antarctica |work=The World Factbook |date=19 June 2014|access-date=18 March 2015}}</ref>
| data-sort-value="0" | N/A<ref group="note">The [[Antarctic Treaty System]] limits the nature of national claims in Antarctica. Of the [[territorial claims in Antarctica]], the [[Ross Dependency]] has the largest population.</ref>
| data-sort-value="1258" | {{0|00,00}}1,258 {{ndash}} {{Flagicon|Antarctica|variant=Bartram}} [[McMurdo Station]]
Line 198 ⟶ 201:
{{Further|List of countries and dependencies by population}}
[[File:Global population cartogram.png|thumb|300px|[[Cartogram]] showing the distribution of the world population, each square represents half a million people.]]
[[File:People's -Km² for all countries (and us states, uk kingdoms).png|thumb|upright=2.05|right|300px| [[w:Choropleth|choropleth]] showing [[w:Population density|Population density]] (people per square kilometre) by country or
[[File:Top 5 Country Population Graph 1901 to 2021.svg|thumb|right|300px|1901 to 2021 population graph of the five countries with the highest current populations]]
===Ten most populous countries===
{{sticky header}}{{table alignment}}{{static row numbers}}{{sort under}}
{| class="sortable wikitable sticky-header static-row-numbers sort-under col1left col5left" {{right}}
|-
!
! Population
! % of<br>world
! Date
! {{nowrap|Source (official or from}}<br>the
|-
| {{flag+link|Demographics of|IND}}
| <section begin=IND/>{{n+p|1425775850|{{worldpop}}|sigfig=3|disp=table|nonscinote=y}}
| {{dts|14 April 2023|format=dmy|abbr=on}}<section end="IND"/>
| UN projection<ref name="20230414france24"
|-
| {{flag+link|Demographics of|CHN}}
| <section begin=CHN/>{{n+p|
| {{dts|
| National annual estimate<ref>{{cite web |url=
|-
| {{flag+link|Demographics of the|USA}}
Line 262 ⟶ 264:
Approximately 4.6 billion people live in these ten countries, representing around 57% of the world's population as of July 2023.
The UN estimates that by 2023 India will have overtaken China in having the largest population.<ref>{{Cite
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
Line 305 ⟶ 307:
}}
|-
| style="text-align:right;"| 1 || style="text-align:left;"| {{flagicon|China}} [[Demographics of China|China]]{{efn-ua|name=china-note|China excludes
|-
| style="text-align:right;"| 2 || style="text-align:left;"| {{flagicon|India}} [[Demographics of India|India]] || style="text-align:right;"| 1,053 || style="text-align:right;"| 1,311 || style="text-align:right;"| 1,528
Line 365 ⟶ 367:
| 8 || align="left" |{{Flag|Burundi}} || 12,696,478 || 27,830 || 456
|-
| 9 || align="left" |{{Flag|
|-
| 10 || align="left" |{{Flag|
|}
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Population size fluctuates at differing rates in differing regions. Nonetheless, population growth has been the long-standing trend on all inhabited continents, as well as in most individual states. During the 20th century, the global population saw its greatest increase in known history, rising from about 1.6 billion in 1900 to over 6 billion in 2000<ref>{{Cite web |year=2022 |title=World Population Clock (under World Pop Milestone section) |url=https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/ |website=Worldometer}}</ref> as the whole world entered the early phases of what has come to be called the "[[demographic transition]]". Some of the key factors contributing to this increase included the lessening of the [[mortality rate]] in many countries by improved sanitation and [[History of medicine#Modern medicine|medical advances]], and a massive increase in agricultural productivity attributed to the [[Green Revolution]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6496585.stm |title=The limits of a Green Revolution? |work=BBC News |date=29 March 2007 |access-date=1 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728055441/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6496585.stm |archive-date=28 July 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.energybulletin.net/19525.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080422210924/http://www.energybulletin.net/19525.html |archive-date=22 April 2008 |title=The Real Green Revolution |publisher=Energybulletin.net |access-date=1 August 2010}}</ref> By 2000, there were approximately [[#Past population|ten times as many people]] on Earth as there had been in 1700.
However, this rapid growth did not last. During the period 2000–2005, the United Nations estimates that the world's population was growing at an annual rate of 1.3% (equivalent to around 80 million people), down from a peak of 2.1% during the period 1965–1970.<ref name=":8"/> Globally, although the population [[population growth|growth rate]] has been steadily declining from its peak in 1968,<ref>{{Cite
[[File:Total Fertility Rate Map by Country.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|Map of countries by fertility rate (2020), according to the [[Population Reference Bureau]]
]]
[[File:World population counter, Eureka, Halifax, West Yorkshire (27th August 2022) 001.jpg|thumb|right|A world population clock in August 2022 at [[Eureka! (museum)|Eureka!]] in [[Halifax, West Yorkshire|Halifax]],
In fact, during the 2010s, Japan and some countries in Europe began to [[population decline|reduce in population]], due to [[sub-replacement fertility]] rates.<ref name=BigDecline>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/9999591/Japans-population-suffers-biggest-fall-in-history.html |title=Japan's population suffers biggest fall in history |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=17 April 2013|access-date=22 July 2013 |location=London |first=Danielle |last=Demetriou|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521221053/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/9999591/Japans-population-suffers-biggest-fall-in-history.html|archive-date=21 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>
Line 1,330 ⟶ 1,332:
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2020}}
Long-term global population growth is difficult to predict. The United Nations and the US Census Bureau both give different estimates – according to the UN, the world population reached seven billion in late 2011,<ref name=UN>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2008/wpp2008_highlights.pdf |title=World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision |publisher=[[Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat]] |date=June 2009|access-date=20 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130319095657/http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2008/wpp2008_highlights.pdf|archive-date=19 March 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> while the USCB asserted that this occurred in March 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/ipc/www/popwnote.html |publisher=US Census Bureau |title=Notes on the World POPClock and World Vital Events | access-date = 12 February 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131002103104/http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/popwnote.html | archive-date = 2 October 2013 | url-status = live}}</ref> Since 1951, the UN has issued multiple projections of future world population, based on different assumptions. From 2000 to 2005, the UN consistently revised these projections downward, until the 2006 revision, issued on 14 March 2007, revised the 2050 mid-range estimate upwards by 273 million.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}
Complicating the UN's and
The UN's first report in 1951 showed that during the period 1950–55 the [[Birth rate|crude birth rate]] was 36.9/1,000 population and the [[Mortality rate|crude death rate]] was 19.1/1,000. By the period 2015–20, both numbers had dropped significantly to 18.5/1,000 for the crude birth rate and 7.5/1,000 for the crude death rate.
The total number of births globally is currently (2015–20) 140 million/year, is projected to peak during the period 2040–45 at 141 million/year and thereafter decline slowly to 126 million/year by 2100.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |year=2019 |title=World Population Prospects 2019, Births file |url=https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Standard/Fertility/ |website=United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs}}</ref> The total number of deaths is currently 57 million/year and is projected to grow steadily to 121 million/year by 2100.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |year=2019 |title=World Population Prospects 2019, Deaths file |url=https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Standard/Mortality/ |website=United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs}}</ref>
2012 United Nations projections show a continued increase in population in the near future with a steady decline in population growth rate; the global population is expected to reach between 8.3 and 10.9 billion by 2050.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://esa.un.org/wpp/unpp/panel_population.htm |title=World Population Prospects, the 2012 Revision – "Low variant" and "High variant" values |publisher=UN |year=2012|access-date=15 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701185837/http://esa.un.org/wpp/unpp/panel_population.htm|archive-date=1 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45165 |title=World population projected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050 – UN report |publisher=UN News Centre |date=14 June 2013|access-date=16 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823185917/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45165|archive-date=23 August 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> 2003 [[United Nations Population Division|UN Population Division]] population projections for the year 2150 range between 3.2 and 24.8 billion.<ref name="LongRangeProjections2003KeyFindings">{{Cite book |title=Long-Range Population Projections |date=2003 |work=Proceedings of the United Nations Technical Working Group on Long-Range Population Projections |publisher=United Nations: Department of Economic and Social Affairs |place=New York |chapter=Key Findings |access-date=3 July 2010 |chapter-url=https://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/longrange/longrangeKeyFind.pdf}}</ref> One of many independent mathematical models supports the lower estimate,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130404072923.htm |title=A model predicts that the world's populations will stop growing in 2050 |publisher=ScienceDaily.com |date=4 April 2013 |access-date=3 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102113023/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130404072923.htm |archive-date=2 January 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> while a 2014 estimate forecasts between 9.3 and 12.6 billion in 2100, and continued growth thereafter.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/18/world-population-new-study-11bn-2100 |title=World population to hit 12bn in 2100 – with 70% chance of continuous rise |author=Carrington, Damien |date=18 September 2014 |work=The Guardian|access-date=21 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140920203432/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/18/world-population-new-study-11bn-2100|archive-date=20 September 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.1257469 |pmid=25301627 |title=World population stabilization unlikely this century |journal=Science |volume=346 |issue=6206 |pages=234–7 |publisher=AAAS |date=14 September 2014 |issn=1095-9203 |last1=Gerland |first1=P. |last2=Raftery |first2=A. E. |last3=Ev Ikova |first3=H. |last4=Li |first4=N. |last5=Gu |first5=D. |last6=Spoorenberg |first6=T. |last7=Alkema |first7=L. |last8=Fosdick |first8=B. K. |last9=Chunn |first9=J.| last10 = Lalic | first10 = N. |last11=Bay |first11=G. |last12=Buettner |first12=T. |last13=Heilig |first13=G. K. |last14=Wilmoth |first14=J. |pmc=4230924 |bibcode=2014Sci...346..234G}}</ref> The 2019 Revision of the UN estimates gives the "medium variant" population as; nearly 8.6 billion in 2030, about 9.7 billion in 2050 and about 10.9 billion in 2100.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://population.un.org/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2019_10KeyFindings.pdf |title=World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights |access-date=8 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703142439/https://population.un.org/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2019_10KeyFindings.pdf |archive-date=3 July 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> In December 2019, the [[German Foundation for World Population]] projected that the global population will reach 8 billion by 2023 as it increases by 156 every minute.<ref>{{cite news |last=Silk |first=John |date=21 December 2019 |title=World's population to hit 7.75 billion in 2019 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/worlds-population-to-hit-775-billion-in-2019/a-51758905 |publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] |access-date=17 July 2020}}</ref> In a modeled future projection by the [[Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation]], the global population was projected to peak in 2064 at 9.73 billion people and decline to 8.79 billion in 2100.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 July 2020 |title=World population in 2100 could be 2 billion below UN forecasts, study suggests |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/15/world-population-in-2100-could-be-2-billion-below-un-forecasts-study-suggests|access-date=15 July 2020 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> Some analysts have questioned the sustainability of further world population growth, highlighting the [[Human impact on the environment|growing pressures on the environment]],<ref name="StokstadAAAS">{{Cite web |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/landmark-analysis-documents-alarming-global-decline-nature |title=Landmark analysis documents the alarming global decline of nature |last=Stokstad |first=Erik |date=5 May 2019 |website=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science|AAAS]] |language=en|access-date=19 July 2020 |quote="Driving these threats are the growing human population, which has doubled since 1970 to 7.6 billion, and consumption. (Per capita of use of materials is up 15% over the past 5 decades.)"}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Crist |first1=Eileen |last2=Ripple |first2=William J.|author-link2=William J. Ripple |last3=Ehrlich |first3=Paul R.|author-link3=Paul R. Ehrlich |last4=Rees |first4=William E. |last5=Wolf |first5=Christopher |year=2022 |title=Scientists' warning on population |url=https://scientistswarning.forestry.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/Crist2022.pdf |journal=[[Science of the Total Environment]] |volume=845 |page=157166 |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157166 |pmid=35803428 |bibcode=2022ScTEn.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin-top:0.5em; margin-right:1em; float:left; font-size:96%;"
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{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right; margin-top:2.6em; font-size:96%;"
|+UN
! Year
! World
Line 1,430 ⟶ 1,432:
| 31 (0.5%)
|-
!style="text-align: right;" |{{anchor|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!style="text-align: right;" |{{anchor|2050}}2050
| 9,
| 5,
| 2,
|
|
|
| 57 (0.6%)
|-
!style="text-align: right;" |{{anchor|
|
| 5,
|
|
|
|
| 66 (0.6%)
|-
!style="text-align: right;" |{{anchor|2100}}2100
| 10,
| 4,
|
|
|
|
|
|}
Line 1,632 ⟶ 1,490:
|-
! Year
| colspan=2 | 1500 || colspan=2 | 1804 || colspan=2 | 1927 || colspan=2 | 1974 || colspan=2 | 2022 || colspan=2 | {{tooltip|n/a|World population is not expected to ever reach 16
|-
! Years elapsed
Line 1,657 ⟶ 1,515:
Pre-modern [[infant mortality]] rates are another critical factor for such an estimate; these rates are very difficult to estimate for ancient times due to a lack of accurate records. Haub (1995) estimates that around 40% of those who have ever lived did not survive beyond their first birthday. Haub also stated that "[[life expectancy at birth]] probably averaged only about ten years for most of human history",<ref name=Haub1995/> which is not to be mistaken for the life expectancy after reaching adulthood. The latter equally depended on period, location and social standing, but [[Life expectancy#Variation over time|calculations]] identify averages from roughly 30 years upward.
The [[National Institute of Corrections]] estimates that the number of people who have ever lived will rise to 121 billion by 2050, 4 billion more than their 2021 estimate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth? |url=https://info.nicic.gov/ces/global/population-demographics/how-many-people-have-ever-lived-earth |access-date=4 March 2024 |website=National Institute of Corrections}}</ref>
==Human population as a function of food availability==
Individuals from a wide range of academic fields and political backgrounds have proposed that, like all other animal populations, any [[human population]] (and, by extension, the world population) predictably grows and shrinks according to available food supply, growing during an abundance of food and shrinking in times of scarcity.<ref>Bystroff,
Scientists generally acknowledge that at least one significant factor contributing to population growth (or overpopulation) is that as agriculture advances in creating more food, the population consequently increases—the [[Neolithic Revolution]] and [[Green Revolution]] often specifically provided as examples of such agricultural breakthroughs.<ref name="Gilland">Gilland, Bernard (2006). "Population, nutrition and agriculture". ''Population and Environment'', 28(1), 1.</ref><ref>Bocquet-Appel, Jean-Pierre (2011). "When the
Most human populations throughout history validate this theory, as does the overall current global population. Populations of [[hunter-gatherer]]s fluctuate in accordance with the amount of available food. The world human population began consistently and sharply to rise, and continues to do so, after sedentary agricultural lifestyles became common due to the Neolithic Revolution and its increased food supply.<ref>GJ Armelagos, AH Goodman, KH Jacobs Population and environment – 1991 link.springer.com</ref><ref name="Li"/><ref name="NatGeo"/> This was, subsequent to the Green Revolution starting in the 1940s, followed by even more severely accelerated population growth. Often, wealthier countries send their surplus food resources to the aid of starving communities; however, some proponents of this theory argue that this seemingly beneficial strategy only results in further harm to those communities in the long run. Anthropologist Peter Farb, for example, has commented on the paradox that "intensification of production to feed an increased population leads to a still greater increase in population."<ref>Farb, Peter: 1978, ''Humankind''. Boston, Houghton Mifflin.</ref> Environmental writer Daniel Quinn has also focused on this phenomenon, which he calls the "food race", coining a term he felt was comparable, in terms of both escalation and potential catastrophe, to the [[nuclear arms race]].
Line 1,677 ⟶ 1,537:
* [[Coastal development hazards#Coastal population growth and development on coasts|Coastal population growth]]
* [[Demographic transition]]
* [[Doomsday argument]]
* [[Family planning]]
Line 1,685 ⟶ 1,544:
* [[Natalism]]
* [[One-child policy]]
* [[Population
* [[Population dynamics]]
* [[Population growth]]
* [[Two-child policy]]
'''Lists:'''
* [[List of countries and dependencies by population]]
* [[List of countries by past and projected future population]]
* [[List of countries by population growth rate]]
* [[List of countries by population in 1900]]
* [[List of countries and dependencies by population density]]
* [[List of largest cities]]
* [[Lists of organisms by population]] – for non-human global populations
* [[List of population concern organizations]]
* [[List of religious populations]]
* [[List of sovereign states and dependencies by total fertility rate]]
'''Historical:'''
Line 1,728 ⟶ 1,588:
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3108_worldbal.html "The World in Balance"] (transcript). Two-part PBS ''Nova'' episode on world population. 20 April 2004. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
* [https://www.economist.com/news/international/21579817-lot-more-people-faces-future "Global population: Faces of the future"]. ''The Economist''. 22 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
*Hopfenberg, Russell, and David Pimentel. "[https://dn790008.ca.archive.org/0/items/human-population-numbers-as-a-function-o/Human_population_numbers_as_a_function_o.pdf Human population numbers as a function of food supply]." Environment, development and sustainability 3 (2001):
==External links==
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