Current World Population

The chart above illustrates how world population has switched via history. View the total tabulated data.

At the dawn of agriculture, about eight thousand B.C., the population of the world was approximately five million. Over the 8,000-year period up to one A.D. it grew to two hundred million (some estimate three hundred million or even 600, suggesting how imprecise population estimates of early historical periods can be), with a growth rate of under 0.05% per year.

A tremendous switch occurred with the industrial revolution: whereas it had taken all of human history until around one thousand eight hundred for world population to reach one billion, the 2nd billion was achieved in only one hundred thirty years (1930), the third billion in less than thirty years (1959), the fourth billion in fifteen years (1974), and the fifth billion in only thirteen years (1987).

• During the 20th century alone, the population in the world has grown from 1.65 billion to six billion.
• In 1970, there were toughly half as many people in the world as there are now.
• Because of declining growth rates, it will now take over two hundred years to dual again.

Wonder how big was the world’s population when you were born?

Check out this ordinary wizard or this more elaborated one to find out.

Growth Rate

Population in the world is presently (2017) growing at a rate of around 1.11% per year (down from 1.13% in 2016). The current average population switch is estimated at around eighty million per year.

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 Two.Nineteen percent, which was reached in 1963.

The annual growth rate is presently declining and is projected to proceed to decline in the coming years. Presently, it is estimated that it will become less than 1% by two thousand twenty and less than 0.5% by 2050.

This means that world population will proceed to grow in the 21st century, but at a slower rate compared to the latest past. World population has doubled (100% increase) in forty years from one thousand nine hundred fifty nine (Three billion) to one thousand nine hundred ninety nine (6 billion). It is now estimated that it will take a further thirty nine years to increase by another 50%, to become nine billion by 2038.

The latest United Nations projections indicate that world population will reach ten billion persons in the year two thousand fifty six (six years earlier than previously estimated).

World Population (2017 and historical)

World Population Forecast

World Population Milestones

Ten Billion (2056)

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

8 Billion (2023)

World population is expected to reach eight billion people in two thousand twenty three according to the United Nations (in two thousand twenty six according to the U.S. Census Bureau).

7.Five Billion (2017)

The current world population is 7.Five billion as of September two thousand seventeen [1] according to the most latest United Nations estimates elaborated by Worldometers. The term “World Population” refers to the human population (the total number of humans presently living) of the world.

7 Billion (2011)

The US Census Bureau made a lower estimate, for which the seven billion mark was only reached on March 12, 2012.

6 Billion (1999)

Previous Milestones

• Five Billion: 1987
• Four Billion: 1974
• Three Billion: 1960
• Two Billion: 1927
• 1 Billion: 1804

Summary Table

World Population by Region

World Population Density (people/km two )

World Population by Religion

According to a latest investigate (based on the two thousand ten world population of 6.9 billion) by The Pew Forum, there are:

• Two,173,180,000 Christians (31% of world population), of which 50% are Catholic, 37% Protestant, 12% Orthodox, and 1% other.
• 1,598,510,000 Muslims (23%), of which 87-90% are Sunnis, 10-13% 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 breathtaking majority (94%) of which 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 which live in two countries: United States (41%) and Israel (41%).

World Population by Country

How many people have ever lived on earth?

Assuming that we begin 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 presently alive harshly 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 forty five billion to one hundred twenty five billion, with most estimates falling into the range of 90 to one hundred ten billion humans.

World Population clock: sources and methodology

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 every two years calculates, updates, and publishes estimates of total population in its World Population Prospects series. These population estimates and projections provide the standard and consistent set of population figures that are used across the United Nations system.

Why Worldometers clocks are the most accurate

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

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 world population reached seven 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 demonstrating the same number at any given time anywhere around the world.

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