Categories: Research

World Population 2016

The population of the world is currently growing at a rate of around 1.13% per year. The current average world population change is estimated at around 80 million per year.

The annual growth rate reached its peak in the late 1960s, when it was at 2% and above. The rate of increase has therefore almost halved since its peak of 2.19 percent, which was reached in 1963.

The annual growth rate is currently declining and is projected to continue to decline in the coming years. Currently, it is estimated that it will become less than 1% by 2020 and less than 0.5% by 2050.

This means that the world population will continue to grow in the 21st century, but at a slower rate compared to the recent past. The world population has doubled (100% increase) in 40 years, from 1959 (3 billion) to 1999 (6 billion). It is now estimated that it will take a further 39 years to increase by another 50% to reach 9 billion by 2038.

The latest United Nations projections indicate that the world population will reach 10 billion people in the year 2056 (six years earlier than previously estimated).

World Population (2016 and historical)

View the population data for all years

Year Population Yearly %
Change
Yearly
Change
Median
Age
Fertility
Rate
Density
(P/Km²)
Urban
Pop %
Urban Population
2016 7,432,663,275 1.13 % 83,191,176 29.9 2.5 57 54.3 % 4,034,193,153
2015 7,349,472,099 1.18 % 83,949,411 30 2.51 57 53.8 % 3,957,285,013
2010 6,929,725,043 1.23 % 82,017,839 29 2.56 53 51.5 % 3,571,272,167
2005 6,519,635,850 1.25 % 78,602,746 27 2.62 50 49.1 % 3,199,013,076
2000 6,126,622,121 1.33 % 78,299,807 26 2.74 47 46.6 % 2,856,131,072
1995 5,735,123,084 1.55 % 85,091,077 25 3.04 44 44.8 % 2,568,062,984
1990 5,309,667,699 1.82 % 91,425,426 24 3.45 41 43 % 2,285,030,904
1985 4,852,540,569 1.79 % 82,581,621 23 3.59 37 41.3 % 2,003,049,795
1980 4,439,632,465 1.8 % 75,646,647 23 3.87 34 39.4 % 1,749,539,272
1975 4,061,399,228 1.98 % 75,782,307 22 4.48 31 37.8 % 1,534,721,238
1970 3,682,487,691 2.08 % 71,998,514 22 4.92 28 36.7 % 1,350,280,789
1965 3,322,495,121 1.94 % 60,830,259 23 4.96 21 N.A. N.A.
1960 3,018,343,828 1.82 % 52,005,861 23 4.9 23 33.8 % 1,019,494,911
1955 2,758,314,525 1.78 % 46,633,043 23 4.96 21 N.A. N.A.

Source: Worldometers (www.Worldometers.info)

Elaboration of data by United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision. (Medium-fertility variant).

World Population Forecast

Year Population Yearly %
Change
Yearly
Change
Median
Age
Fertility
Rate
Density
(P/Km²)
Urban
Pop %
Urban Population
2020 7,758,156,792 1.09 % 81,736,939 31 2.47 60 55.9 % 4,338,014,924
2025 8,141,661,007 0.97 % 76,700,843 32 2.43 63 57.8 % 4,705,773,576
2030 8,500,766,052 0.87 % 71,821,009 33 2.38 65 59.5 % 5,058,158,460
2035 8,838,907,877 0.78 % 67,628,365 34 2.35 68 61 % 5,394,234,712
2040 9,157,233,976 0.71 % 63,665,220 35 2.31 70 62.4 % 5,715,413,029
2045 9,453,891,780 0.64 % 59,331,561 35 2.28 73 63.8 % 6,030,924,065
2050 9,725,147,994 0.57 % 54,251,243 36 2.25 75 65.2 % 6,338,611,492

Source: Worldometers (www.Worldometers.info)

Elaboration of data by United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision. (Medium-fertility variant).

World Population Milestones

10 Billion (2056)

The United Nations projects the world population to reach 10 billion in the year 2056.

8 Billion (2024)

According to the most recent United Nations estimates, the human population of the world is expected to reach 8 billion people in the spring of 2024.

CURRENT: 7.5 Billion (2016)

The current world population (the total number of humans currently living) is estimated at 7.5 billion as of October 2016 [1].

7 Billion (2011)

According to the United Nations, the world population reached 7 Billion on October 31, 2011.
The US Census Bureau made a lower estimate, for which the $7 billion mark was only reached on March 12, 2012.

6 Billion (1999)

According to the United Nations, the 6 billion figure was reached on October 12, 1999 (celebrated as the Day of 6 Billion). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the $6 billion milestone was reached on July 22, 1999, at about 3:49 AM GMT.

Yet, according to the U.S. Census website, the date and time when 6 billion was reached will probably change because the already uncertain estimates are constantly being updated.

Previous Milestones

  • 5 Billion: 1987
  • 4 Billion: 1974
  • 3 Billion: 1960
  • 2 Billion: 1927
  • 1 Billion: 1804

Summary Table

1–1804 (1803 years): 0.2 to 1 bil.
1804–2011 (207 years): from 1 billion to 7 billion
Year
1
1000
1500
1650
1750
1804
1850
1900
1927
1950
1960
1974
1980
1987
1999
2011
2020
2024
2030
2038
2050
2056
2100
Population
0.2
0.275
0.45
0.5
0.7
1
1.2
1.6
2
2.55
3
4
4.5
5
6
7
7.7
8
8.4
9
9.5
10
11.2

World Population by Region

# Region Population
(2016)
Yearly
Change
Net
Change
Density
(P/Km²)
Area
(Km²)
Migrants
(net)
Fert.
Rate
Med.
Age
Urban
Pop %
World
Share
1 Asia 4,436,224,473 0.98 % 42,928,459 143 31,022,549 -1,256,133 2.2 30 48.7 % 59.7 %
2 Africa 1,216,129,815 2.53 % 29,951,533 41 29,661,703 -579,959 4.71 19 40.2 % 16.4 %
3 Europe 738,849,002 0.06 % 406,932 33 22,121,228 824,644 1.6 42 74.3 % 9.9 %
4 Latin America and the Caribbean 641,029,306 1.05 % 6,642,739 32 20,158,154 -414,767 2.15 29 79.5 % 8.6 %
5 Northern America 360,529,324 0.75 % 2,691,288 19 18,680,276 1,235,878 1.86 38 82.6 % 4.9 %
6 Oceania 39,901,355 1.45 % 570,225 5 8,489,650 190,337 2.42 33 70.8 % 0.5 %

World Population Density (people/km2)

population density map of the world shows not only countries but also many subdivisions (regions, states, and provinces). See also: World Map


Courtesy of Junuxx at en.wikipedia [CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

World Population by Religion

According to a recent study (based on the 2010 world population of 6.9 billion) by The Pew Forum, there are:

  • 2,173,180,000 Christians (31% of the world population), of which 50% are Catholic, 37% are Protestant, 12% are Orthodox, and 1% are other.
  • 1,598,510,000 Muslims (23%), of which 87-90% are Sunnis and 10-13% are Shia.
  • 1,126,500,000 No religion affiliation (16%): atheists, agnostics, and people who do not identify with any particular religion. One in five people (20%) in the United States are religiously unaffiliated.
  • 1,033,080,000 Hindus (15%), the overwhelming majority (94%) of whom live in India.
  • 487,540,000 Buddhists (7%), of which half live in China.
  • 405,120,000 Folk Religionists (6%): faiths that are closely associated with a particular group of people, ethnicity, or tribe.
  • 58,110,000 Other Religions (1%): Baha’i faith, Taoism, Jainism, Shintoism, Sikhism, Tenrikyo, Wicca, Zoroastrianism, and many others.
  • 13,850,000 Jews (0.2%), four-fifths of whom live in two countries: the United States (41%) and Israel (41%).

World Population by Country

It was written during the 1970s that 75% of the people who had ever been born were alive at that moment. This was grossly false.

Assuming that we start counting from about 50,000 B.C., the time when modern Homo sapiens appeared on the earth (and not from 700,000 B.C. when the ancestors of Homo sapiens appeared, or several million years ago when hominids were present),.

Taking into account that all population data are a rough estimate and assuming a constant growth rate applied to each period up to modern times,. It has been estimated that a total of approximately 106 billion people have been born since the dawn of the human species, making the population currently alive roughly 6% of all people who have ever lived on planet Earth.

Others have estimated the number of human beings who have ever lived to be anywhere from 45 billion to 125 billion, with most estimates falling into the range of 90 to 110 billion humans.

World Population clock: sources and methodology

country population The world population counter displayed on Worldometers takes into consideration data from two major sources: the United Nations and the U.S. Census Bureau.

1. The United Nations Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs calculates, updates, and publishes estimates of total population every two years in its World Population Prospects series.

These population estimates and projections provide the standard and consistent set of population figures that are used throughout the United Nations system. The World Population Prospect: the 2015 Revision provides the most recent data available (released on July 29, 2015). Estimates and projected world population and country-specific populations are given from 1950 through 2100 and are released every two years.

The latest revision has revised the world population projections. Worldometers, as it is common practice, utilize medium fertility estimates. The data underlying the population estimates are national and sub-national census data and data on births, deaths, and migrants available from national sources and publications, as well as from questionnaires.

For all countries, census and registration data are evaluated. If necessary,the Population Division adjusted for incompleteness as part of its preparations for the official United Nations population estimates and projections.

2. The International Programs Center at the U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, also develops estimates and projections based on analysis of available data (based on census, survey, and administrative information) on population, fertility, mortality, and migration for each country or area of the world.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the world population reached 7 billion on March 12, 2012. For most countries, adjustment of the data is necessary to correct for errors, omissions, and inconsistencies in the data.

Finally, since most recent data for a single country is at least two years old, the current world population figure is necessarily a projection of past data based on assumed trends.

As new data becomes available, assumptions and data are reevaluated, and past conclusions and current figures may be modified. For information about how these estimates and projections are made by the U.S. Census Bureau, see the Population Estimates and Projections Methodology.

Why Worldometer Clocks are the most accurate

The above world population clock is based on the latest estimates released on July 29, 2015, by the United Nations and will show the same number wherever you are in the world and at whatever time you set on your PC. Worldometers is the only website to show live counters that are based on U.N. data and that do not follow the user’s PC clock.

Visitors around the world visiting a PC clock-based counter see different numbers depending on where they are located, and in the past, they have seen other world population clocks, such as the one hosted on a United Nations website and on National Geographic, reach 7 billion whenever their locally set PC clocks reached 4:21:10 AM on October 31, 2011.

Obviously, the UN data is based on estimates and can’t be 100% accurate, so in all honesty, nobody can possibly say with any degree of certainty on which day the world population reached 7 billion (or any other exact number), let alone at what time. But once an estimate is made (based on the best data and analysis available), the world population clock should be showing the same number at any given time anywhere around the world.

Countries in the world by population (2016)

This list includes both countries and dependent territories. Data based on the latest United Nations Population Division estimates.
Click on the name of the country or dependency for current estimates (live population clock), historical data, and projected figures.

Source: Worldometers (www.Worldometers.info)

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