Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. [3] Actual global human population growth amounts to around 70 million annually, or 0.85% per year. As of 2024, The United Nations projects that global population will peak in the mid-2080s at around 10.3 billion. The UN's estimates have decreased strongly in recent years due to sharp declines in global birth rates. [4] Others have challenged many recent population projections as having underestimated population growth. [5]
The world human population has been growing since the end of the Black Death, around the year 1350. [6] A mix of technological advancement that improved agricultural productivity [7] and sanitation and medical advancement that reduced mortality increased population growth. In some geographies, this has slowed through the process called the demographic transition, where many nations with high standards of living have seen a significant slowing of population growth. This is in direct contrast with less developed contexts, where population growth is still happening. [8] Globally, the rate of population growth has declined from a peak of 2.2% per year in 1963. [9]
Population growth alongside increased consumption is a driver of environmental concerns, such as biodiversity loss and climate change, [10] [11] due to overexploitation of natural resources for human development. [12] International policy focused on mitigating the impact of human population growth is concentrated in the Sustainable Development Goals which seeks to improve the standard of living globally while reducing the impact of society on the environment while advancing human well-being.[ citation needed ]
Years passed | Year | Pop. (billions) |
---|---|---|
– | 1800 | 1 |
127 | 1927 | 2 |
33 | 1960 | 3 |
14 | 1974 | 4 |
13 | 1987 | 5 |
12 | 1999 | 6 |
12 | 2011 | 7 |
11 | 2022 | 8 |
12 | 2035* | 9 |
20 | 2055* | 10 |
35 | 2088* | 11 |
*World Population Prospects 2017 (United Nations Population Division) |
World population has been rising continuously since the end of the Black Death, around the year 1350. [6] Population began growing rapidly in the Western world during the industrial revolution. The most significant increase in the world's population has been since the 1950s, mainly due to medical advancements [14] and increases in agricultural productivity. [15] [16]
Due to its dramatic impact on the human ability to grow food, the Haber process, named after one of its inventors, the German chemist Fritz Haber, served as the "detonator of the population explosion", enabling the global population to increase from 1.6 billion in 1900 to 7.7 billion by November 2019. [17]
Some of the reasons for the "Modern Rise of Population" [18] were particularly investigated by the British health scientist Thomas McKeown (1912–1988). In his publications, McKeown challenged four theories about the population growth:
Although the McKeown thesis has been heavily disputed, recent studies have confirmed the value of his ideas. [23] His work is pivotal for present day thinking about population growth, birth control, public health and medical care. McKeown had a major influence on many population researchers, such as health economists and Nobel prize winners Robert W. Fogel (1993) and Angus Deaton (2015). The latter considered McKeown as "the founder of social medicine". [24]
The "population growth rate" is the rate at which the number of individuals in a population increases in a given time period, expressed as a fraction of the initial population. Specifically, population growth rate refers to the change in population over a unit time period, often expressed as a percentage of the number of individuals in the population at the beginning of that period. This can be written as the formula, valid for a sufficiently small time interval:
A positive growth rate indicates that the population is increasing, while a negative growth rate indicates that the population is decreasing. A growth ratio of zero indicates that there were the same number of individuals at the beginning and end of the period—a growth rate may be zero even when there are significant changes in the birth rates, death rates, immigration rates, and age distribution between the two times. [25]
A related measure is the net reproduction rate. In the absence of migration, a net reproduction rate of more than 1 indicates that the population of females is increasing, while a net reproduction rate less than one (sub-replacement fertility) indicates that the population of females is decreasing.
Most populations do not grow exponentially, rather they follow a logistic model. Once the population has reached its carrying capacity, it will stabilize and the exponential curve will level off towards the carrying capacity, which is usually when a population has depleted most its natural resources. [26] In the world human population, growth may be said to have been following a linear trend throughout the last few decades. [9]
The growth of a population can often be modelled by the logistic equation [27]
where
As it is a separable differential equation, the population may be solved explicitly, producing a logistic function:
where and is the initial population at time 0.
6–7 children 5–6 children 4–5 children | 3–4 children 2–3 children 1–2 children |
The world population growth rate peaked in 1963 at 2.2% per year and subsequently declined. [9] In 2017, the estimated annual growth rate was 1.1%. [28] The CIA World Factbook gives the world annual birthrate, mortality rate, and growth rate as 1.86%, 0.78%, and 1.08% respectively. [29] The last 100 years have seen a massive fourfold increase in the population, due to medical advances, lower mortality rates, and an increase in agricultural productivity made possible by the Green Revolution. [30]
The annual increase in the number of living humans peaked at 88.0 million in 1989, then slowly declined to 73.9 million in 2003, after which it rose again to 75.2 million in 2006. In 2017, the human population increased by 83 million. [28] Generally, developed nations have seen a decline in their growth rates in recent decades, though annual growth rates remain above 2% in some countries of the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, and also in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. [31]
In some countries the population is declining, especially in Eastern Europe, mainly due to low fertility rates, high death rates and emigration. In Southern Africa, growth is slowing due to the high number of AIDS-related deaths. Some Western Europe countries might also experience population decline. [32] Japan's population began decreasing in 2005. [33]
The United Nations Population Division projects world population to reach 11.2 billion by the end of the 21st century. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projects that the global population will peak in 2064 at 9.73 billion and decline to 8.89 billion in 2100. [34] A 2014 study in Science concludes that the global population will reach 11 billion by 2100, with a 70% chance of continued growth into the 22nd century. [35] [36] The German Foundation for World Population reported in December 2019 that the global human population grows by 2.6 people every second, and could reach 8 billion by 2023. [37] [38]
According to United Nations population statistics, the world population grew by 30%, or 1.6 billion humans, between 1990 and 2010. [39] In number of people the increase was highest in India (350 million) and China (196 million). Population growth rate was among highest in the United Arab Emirates (315%) and Qatar (271%). [39]
Rank | Country | Population | Annual Growth (%) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | 2010 | 2020 (est.) [40] | 1990–2010 | 2010–2020 | ||
World | 5,306,425,000 | 6,895,889,000 | 7,503,828,180 | 1.3% | 0.8% | |
1 | ![]() | 1,139,060,000 | 1,341,335,000 | 1,384,688,986 | 0.8% | 0.3% |
2 | ![]() | 873,785,000 | 1,224,614,000 | 1,333,000,000 | 1.7% | 0.9% |
3 | ![]() | 253,339,000 | 310,384,000 | 329,256,465 | 1.0% | 0.6% |
4 | ![]() | 184,346,000 | 239,871,000 | 262,787,403 | 1.3% | 0.9% |
5 | ![]() | 149,650,000 | 194,946,000 | 208,846,892 | 1.3% | 0.7% |
6 | ![]() | 111,845,000 | 173,593,000 | 207,862,518 | 2.2% | 1.8% |
7 | ![]() | 97,552,000 | 158,423,000 | 203,452,505 | 2.5% | 2.5% |
8 | ![]() | 105,256,000 | 148,692,000 | 159,453,001 | 1.7% | 0.7% |
9 | ![]() | 148,244,000 | 142,958,000 | 142,122,776 | -0.2% | −0.1% |
10 | ![]() | 122,251,000 | 128,057,000 | 126,168,156 | 0.2% | −0.1% |
Many of the world's countries, including many in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and South East Asia, have seen a sharp rise in population since the end of the Cold War. The fear is that high population numbers are putting further strain on natural resources, food supplies, fuel supplies, employment, housing, etc. in some of the less fortunate countries. For example, the population of Chad has ultimately grown from 6,279,921 in 1993 to 10,329,208 in 2009, [41] further straining its resources. Vietnam, Mexico, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the DRC are witnessing a similar growth in population.
The following table gives some example countries or territories:
Country/territory | Life expectancy in years (2008) | Total population growth from 1960s to 2007–2011 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1967 | 1990 | 1994 | 2002 | 2008 | |||
![]() | N/A* | N/A* | 3,437,000 [42] | 4,298,269 | 5,673,520 [43] | 61 [44] | 2,236,520 |
![]() | 23,457,000* [45] | 50,974,000* [46] | 54,939,000 [42] | 67,673,031(2003) | 79,221,000 [47] | 55 [44] | 55,764,000 |
![]() | 14,355,000† [45] | 25,204,000† [46] | 27,361,000† [42] | 38,114,160 (2003)† | 42,272,000† [43] | 50† [44] | 27,917,000 |
![]() | 3,410,000 [45] | 5,679,000 [46] | 6,183,000 [42] | 9,253,493(2003) | 10,329,208 (2009) [41] | 47 [44] | 6,919,205 |
![]() | 3,546,000 [45] | 7,732,000 [46] | 8,846,000 [42] | 10,790,352 (2001) | 15,306,252 (2009) [48] | 44 [44] | 11,760,252 |
![]() | 61,450,000 [45] | 88,500,000 [46] | 108,467,000 [42] | 129,934,911 | 158,259,000 [43] | 47 [44] | 96,809,000 |
![]() | 4,745,000 [45] | 8,156,000 [46] | 10,462,000 [42] | 11,340,480 | 14,517,176(2010) [49] | 50 [44] | 9,772,176 |
![]() | 1,050,000 [45] | 2,025,000 [46] | 2,211,000 [42] | 2,667,859 (2003) | 3,291,000 (2009) [41] | 54 [44] | 2,241,000 |
![]() | 3,607,000 [45] | 7,327,000 [46] | 8,102,000 [42] | 9,967,215 | 13,711,597 (2009) [50] | 57 [44] | 10,104,597 |
![]() | 343,000 [45] | 861,000 [46] | 1,081,000 [42] | 1,367,124 (2000) | 1,705,000 [43] | 55 [44] | 1,362,000 |
![]() | 11,833,126 [45] | 25,012,000 [46] | 27,325,000 [42] | 32,818,500 (2003) | 34,895,000 [47] [51] | 74 [44] | 23,061,874 |
![]() | 16,353,000 [45] | 35,562,000 [46] | 42,552,000 [42] | 55,225,478 (2003) | 70,916,439 [47] [52] | 54 [44] | 54,563,439 |
![]() | 30,083,419 [45] | 53,153,000 [46] | 58,326,000 [42] | 70,712,345 (2003) | 79,089,650 [47] [53] | 72 [44] | 49,006,231 |
![]() (overseas region of France) | 418,000 [45] | N/A [46] | N/A [42] | 720,934 (2003) | 827,000 (2009) [43] | N/A [44] | 409,000 |
![]() (British Overseas Territory) | 2,500 [45] | N/A [46] | N/A [42] | 2,967 (2003) | 3,140(2010) [54] | N/A [44] | 640 |
![]() | 8,935,500 [45] | 13,173,000 [46] | 13,994,000 [42] | 15,116,435 | 17,224,200 (2011) | 77 [44] | 8,288,700 |
![]() | 19,191,000 [45] | 32,987,000 [46] | 34,520,000 [42] | 41,088,227 | 45,925,397 (2010) [55] | 73 [44] | 26,734,397 |
![]() | 85,655,000 [45] | 150,368,000 [46] | 153,725,000 [42] | 174,468,575 (2000) | 190,732,694 (2010) [56] | 72 [44] | 105,077,694 |
![]() | 45,671,000 [45] | 86,154,000 [46] | 93,008,000 [42] | 103,400,165 (2000) | 112,322,757 (2010) [57] | 76 [44] | 66,651,757 |
![]() | 476,727 (1966) [45] | 765,000 [46] | 771,000 [42] | 844,330 (2001) | 849,000 [51] (2010) | 70 [44] | 372,273 |
![]() | 6,050 [45] | 10,000 [46] | N/A [42] | 12,329 | 9,322 (2011) [58] | N/A [44] | 3,272 |
![]() | 1,876,000 [45] | 2,420,000 [46] | 2,429,000 [42] | 2,695,867 (2003) | 2,847,232 [59] (2010) | 74 [44] | 971,232 |
![]() | 11,540,764 [45] | 17,086,000 [46] | 17,843,000 [42] | 19,546,792 (2003) | 27,070,679 [60] (2010) | 82 [44] | 10,066,508 |
![]() | 1,965,500 (1964) [45] | 3,250,000 [46] | 3,414,000 [42] | 3,510,484 | 2,986,952 (July 2010 est.) [41] [61] | 78 [44] | 1,021,452 |
![]() | 31,944,000 [45] | 38,180,000 [46] | 38,554,000 [42] | 38,626,349 (2001) | 38,192,000 (2010) [62] | 75 [44] | 6,248,000 |
![]() | 10,212,000 [45] | 10,553,000 [46] | 10,261,000 [42] | 10,106,017 | 9,979,000 (2010) [63] | 73 [44] | -142,000 |
![]() | 8,226,564 (1965) [45] | 8,980,000 [46] | 8,443,000 [42] | 7,707,495(2000) | 7,351,234 (2011) [64] | 73 [44] | -875,330 |
![]() | 55,068,000 (1966) [45] | 57,411,000 [46] | 58,091,000 [42] | 58,789,194 | 62,008,048 (2010) [65] | 79 [44] | 7,020,048 |
![]() | 2,884,002 (1966) [45] | 3,503,000 [46] | 3,571,000 [42] | 3,840,838 (2000) | 4,470,700 [66] (2010) | 78 [44] | 1,586,698 |
![]() | 720,000,000 [45] | 1,139,060,000 [46] | 1,208,841,000 [42] | 1,286,975,468 (2004) | 1,339,724,852 (2010) [67] | 73 [44] | 619,724,852 |
![]() | 98,274,961 (1965) [45] | 123,537,000 [46] | 124,961,000 [42] | 127,333,002 | 127,420,000 (2010) [68] | 82 [44] | 28,123,865 |
![]() | 511,115,000 [45] | 843,931,000 [46] | 918,570,000 [42] | 1,028,610,328 (2001) | 1,210,193,422 (2011) [69] | 69 [44] | 699,078,422 |
![]() | 1,956,000 (1967) [45] | 3,003,000 (1990) [46] | 2,930,000 (1994) [42] | 4,452,732 (2002) | 5,076,700 (2010) [70] | 82 (2008) [44] | 3,120,700 |
![]() | 24,000 (1967) [45] | 29,000 (1990) [46] | N/A (1994) [42] | 31,842 (2000) | 35,586 [71] (2010) | (2008) [44] | 11,586 |
![]() | 8,716,000 (1967) [45] | 10,123,000 (1990) [46] | 10,426,000 (1994) [42] | 10,964,020 (2001) [72] | 11,305,118 (2011) [73] | N/A (2008) [44] | 2,589,118 |
![]() (Danish dependency) | 38,000 (1967) [45] | N/A (1990) [46] | N/A (1994) [42] | 46,345 (2000) | 48,917 (2010) [74] | N/A (2008) [44] | 18,917 |
![]() | 20,000 (1967) [45] | 29,000 (1990) [46] | N/A (1994) [42] | 33,307 (2000) | 35,789 (2009) [75] | (2008) [44] | 15,789 |
![]() | 29,207,856 (1966) [45] | 42,793,000 (1990) [46] | 44,453,000 (1994) [42] | 48,324,000 (2003) | 48,875,000 (2010) [76] | (2008) [44] | 19,667,144 |
![]() | 12,700,000 (1967) [45] | 21,773,000 (1990) [46] | 23,483,000 (1994) [42] | 22,224,195 (2002) | 24,051,218 (2010) [77] | (2008) [44] | 11,351,218 |
![]() | 107,200 (1967) [45] | 266,000 (1990) [46] | 280,000 (1994) [42] | 332,844 (2001) | 401,890 (2011) [78] | 76 (2008) [44] | 306,609 |
![]() | 10,671,000 (1967) [45] | 17,861,000 (1990) [46] | 19,489,000 (1994) [42] | 21,793,293 (2002) | 27,565,821 (2010) [79] | (2008) [44] | 16,894,821 |
![]() | 32,680,000 (1967) [45] | 57,196,000 (1990) [46] | 59,396,000 (1994) [42] | 60,606,947 (2000) [80] | 63,878,267 (2011) [81] | (2008) [44] | 31,198,267 |
![]() | 2,520,000 (1967) [45] | 2,701,000 (1990) [46] | 2,915,000 (1994) [42] | 3,727,703 [82] (2003) | 4,224,000 [43] (2009) | - (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 5,600,000 (1967) [45] | 12,116,000 (1990) [46] | 13,844,000 (1994) [42] | 17,585,540 (2003) | 22,457,763 (2011) [83] | -(2008) [44] | |
![]() | 182,00 (1967) [45] | 503,000 (1990) [46] | 549,000 (1994) [42] | 667,238 (2003) | 1,234,596 [84] (2010) | 75 (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 11,741,000 (1967) [45] | 16,993,000 (1990) [46] | 17,685,000 (1994) [42] | 19,607,519 (2002) | 20,238,000 [51] (2009) | - (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 6,050,000 (1967) [45] | 6.712,000 (1990) [46] | 6,994,000 (1994) [42] | 7,261,200 (2002) | 7,866,500 [85] (2010) | - (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 335,000 (1967) [45] | 381,000 (1990) [46] | 401,000 (1994) [42] | 439,539 (2001) | 511,840 (2011) [86] | - (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 19,105,056 (1966) [45] | 23,200,000 (1990) [46] | 22,736,000 (1994) [42] | 21,680,974 (2002) | 21,466,174 [87] (2011) | - (2008) [44] | |
![]() (associated state of New Zealand) | 1,900 (1966) [45] | N/A (1990) [46] | N/A (1994) [42] | 2,134 (2002) | 1,398 (2009) [88] | N/A (2008) [44] | -502 |
![]() (New Zealand territory) | 5,194 (1966) [45] | N/A (1990) [46] | N/A (1994) [42] | 1,445 (2001) | 1,416 (2009) | N/A (2008) [44] | -3,778 |
![]() | 1,876,000 (1967) [45] | 2,420,000 (1990) [46] | 2,429,000 (1994) [42] | 2,695,867 (2003) | 2,847,232 [59] (2010) | 74 (2008) [44] | 971,232 |
![]() | 32,031,000 (1967) [45] | 32,322,000 (1990) [46] | 34,180,000 (1994) [42] | 37,812,817 (2002) | 40,091,359 (2010) | 74 (2008) [44] | 8,060,359 |
![]() | 49,890,660 (1967) [45] | 56,440,000 (1990) [46] | 57,747,000 (1994) [42] | 59,551,000 (2001) | 63,136,180 (2011) [89] | 81 (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 52,334,000 (1967) [45] | 57,662,000 (1990) [46] | 57,193,000 (1994) [42] | 56,995,744 (2002) | 60,605,053 [90] (2011) | 80 (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 774,000 (1967) [45] | 1,075,000 (1990) [46] | 1,104,000 (1994) [42] | 1,179,137 (2000) | 1,288,000 (2009) [51] | 75 (2008) [44] | 514,000 |
![]() | 4,717,000 (1967) [45] | 9,197,000 (1990) [46] | 10,322,000 (1994) [42] | 12,974,361 (2000) | 13,276,517 (2009) | 70 (2008) [44] | 8,559,517 |
![]() | 8,033,000 (1967) [45] | 10,609,000 (1990) [46] | 10,960,000 (1994) [42] | 11,177,743 (2002) | 11,239,363 (2009) [91] | 77 (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 246,000 (1967) [45] | 255,000 (1990) [46] | 261,000 (1994) [42] | 250,012 (2001) | 284,589 (2010) [41] | 73 (2008) [44] | 18,589 |
![]() | 131,377 (1967) [45] | 164,000 (1990) [46] | 164,000 (1994) [42] | 178,173 (2003) | 179,000 (2009) [43] | N/A (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 7,765,981 (1967) [45] | 8,559,000 (1990) [46] | 8,794,000 (1994) [42] | 8,920,705 (2002) | 9,354,462 (2009) | 81 (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 4,664,000 (1967) [45] | 4,986,000 (1990) [46] | 5,095,000 (1994) [42] | 5,175,783 (2002) | 5,374,781 (2010) | N/A (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 9,440,000 (1967) [45] | 10,525,000 (1990) [46] | 9,830,000 (1994) [42] | 10,355,824 (2001) | 10,647,763 [92] (2011) | N/A (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 7,323,981 (1967) [45] | 7,712,000 (1990) [46] | 8,031,000 (1994) [42] | 8,032,926 (2001) | 8,404,252 (2011) | N/A (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 1,738,000 (1967) [45] | 4,545,000 (1990) [46] | 5,225,000(1994) [42] | 5,499,074 (2002) | 6,420,000 (2009) [43] | 77 (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 12,385,000 (1967) [45] | 21,550,000 (1990) [46] | 23,080,000(1994) [42] | 27,949,639 (2002) | 29,496,000 (2010) | 70 (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 528,000 (1967) [45] | 965,000 (1990) [46] | 1,050,000 (1994) [42] | 1,345,479 (2002) | 1,647,000 [43] (2009) | 48 (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 5,203,066 (1967) [45] | 10,020,000 (1990) [46] | 10,674,000 (1994) [42] | 10,766,500 (2003) | 18,498,000 [51] [93] (2009) | 38 (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 277,000 (1967) [45] | 348,000 (1990) [46] | 389,000 (1994) [42] | 474,214 (2000) | 676,000 (2009) [51] | 61 (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 2,505,000 (1967) [45] | 4,736,000 (1990) [46] | 5,246,000 (1994) [42] | 8,500,500 (2002) | 8,791,832 (2009) | 59 (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 2,770,000 (1967) [45] | 4,139,000 (1990) [46] | 4,742,000 (1994) [42] | 5,635,967 (2002) | 6,800,000 [94] (2011) | 56 (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 10,500,000 (1967) [45] | 18,961,000 (1990) [46] | 21,360,000 (1994) [42] | 25,284,463 (2002) | 29,331,000 [51] (2009) | - (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 25,781,090 (1966) [45] | 54,608,000 (1990) [46] | 59,778,000 (1994) [42] | 66,622,704 (2002) | 75,330,000 (2010) [95] | 71 (2008) [44] | 49,548,910 |
![]() | 20,014,880 (1966) [45] | 26,603,000 (1990) [46] | 29,248,000(1994) [42] | 31,081,900 (2001) | 32,623,490 (2011) [96] | 81 (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 199,118,000 (1967) [45] | 249,995,000 (1990) [46] | 260,650,00(1994) [42] | 281,421,906 (2000) | 308,745,538 (2010) [97] | 78 (2008) [44] | |
![]() | 7,931,000 (1967) [45] | 18,795,000 (1990) [46] | 20,621,000 (1994) [42] | 24,227,297 (2002) | 32,369,558 (2009) | 52 (2008) [44] |
Population growth 1990–2012 (%) [98] | |
---|---|
Africa | 73.3% |
Middle East | 68.2% |
Asia (excl. China) | 42.8% |
China | 19.0% |
OECD Americas | 27.9% |
Non-OECD Americas | 36.6% |
OECD Europe | 11.5% |
OECD Asia Oceania | 11.1% |
Non-OECD Europe and Eurasia | -0.8% |
India is the most populous country in the world with one-sixth of the world's population. According to estimates from the United Nations (UN), India has overtaken China as the country with the largest population in the world, with a population of 1,425,775,850 at the end of April 2023.
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the sixth most populous in the world. It is also one of the most densely populated countries in Africa, with approximately 218.5 million people in an area of 923,768 km2 (356,669 sq mi).
Population is the term typically used to refer to the number of people in a single area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the size of a resident population within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and plants, and has specific uses within such fields as ecology and genetics.
The People's Republic of China is the second most-populous country in the world and Asia with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, only surpassed by India. Historically, China has always been one of the nation-states with the most population.
Pakistan had a population of 241,495,112 according to the final results of the 2023 Census. This figure includes Pakistan's four provinces e.g. Punjab, Sindh, KPK, Balochistan and Islamabad Capital Territory. AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan's census data is yet to be approved by CCI Council of Pakistan. Pakistan is the world's fifth most populous country.
Saudi Arabia is the fourth largest state in the Arab world, with a reported population of 36,408,818 as of 2022. 41.6% of inhabitants are immigrants. Saudi Arabia has experienced a population explosion in the last 40 years, and continues to grow at a rate of 1.62% per year.
Demography is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition, and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration.
The United States is the third most populous country in the world, and the most populous in the Americas and the Western Hemisphere, with an estimated population of 340,110,988 on July 1, 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This was an increase of 2.6% over the 2020 federal census of 331,449,281 residents. These figures include the 50 states and the federal capital, Washington, D.C., but exclude the 3.6 million residents of five unincorporated U.S. territories as well as several minor uninhabited island possessions. The Census Bureau showed a population increase of 0.98% for the twelve-month period ending in July 2024, slightly below the world estimated annual growth rate of 1.03%. The total fertility rate (TFR) in 2024 was around 1.84 children per woman, which is below the replacement fertility rate of approximately 2.1. By several metrics, including racial and ethnic background, religious affiliation, and percentage of rural and urban divide, the state of Illinois is the most representative of the larger demography of the United States.
Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of deaths per 1,000 individuals per year; thus, a mortality rate of 9.5 in a population of 1,000 would mean 9.5 deaths per year in that entire population, or 0.95% out of the total. It is distinct from "morbidity", which is either the prevalence or incidence of a disease, and also from the incidence rate.
The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that are born to a woman over her lifetime, if they were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through their lifetime, and they were to live from birth until the end of their reproductive life.
Population decline, also known as depopulation, is a reduction in a human population size. Throughout history, 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.
As of the year 2023, Christianity had approximately 2.4 billion adherents and is the largest religion by population. According to a PEW estimation in 2020, Christians made up to 2.38 billion of the worldwide population of about 8 billion people. It represents nearly one-third of the world's population and is the largest religion in the world, with the three largest groups of Christians being the Catholic Church, Protestantism, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The largest Christian denomination is the Catholic Church, with 1.3 billion baptized members. The second largest Christian branch is either Protestantism, or the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Human overpopulation is the idea that human populations may become too large to be sustained by their environment or resources in the long term. The topic is usually discussed in the context of world population, though it may concern individual nations, regions, and cities.
In demography and medical geography, epidemiological transition is a theory which "describes changing population patterns in terms of fertility, life expectancy, mortality, and leading causes of death." For example, a phase of development marked by a sudden increase in population growth rates brought by improved food security and innovations in public health and medicine, can be followed by a re-leveling of population growth due to subsequent declines in fertility rates. Such a transition can account for the replacement of infectious diseases by chronic diseases over time due to increased life span as a result of improved health care and disease prevention. This theory was originally posited by Abdel Omran in 1971.
The population of Africa has grown rapidly over the past century and consequently shows a large youth bulge, further reinforced by increasing life expectancy in most African countries. Total population as of 2024 is about 1.5 billion, with a growth rate of about 100 million every three years. The total fertility rate for Africa is 4.1 as of 2024, the highest in the world. The most populous African country is Nigeria with over 206 million inhabitants as of 2020 and a growth rate of 2.6% p.a.
In world demographics, the world population is the total number of humans currently alive. It was estimated by the United Nations to have exceeded eight billion in mid-November 2022. It took around 300,000 years of human prehistory and history for the human population to reach a billion and only 218 more years to reach 8 billion.
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative finds that Cameroon is fulfilling 61.0% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to health based on its level of income. When looking at the right to health with respect to children, Cameroon achieves 81.7% of what is expected based on its current income. In regards to the right to health amongst the adult population, the country achieves only 70.5% of what is expected based on the nation's level of income. Cameroon falls into the "very bad" category when evaluating the right to reproductive health because the nation is fulfilling only 30.9% of what the nation is expected to achieve based on the resources (income) it has available.
Earth has a human population of over 8 billion as of 2024, with an overall population density of 50 people per km2. Nearly 60% of the world's population lives in Asia, with more than 2.8 billion in the countries of India and China combined. The percentage shares of China, India and rest of South Asia of the world population have remained at similar levels for the last few thousand years of recorded history. The world's literacy rate has increased dramatically in the last 40 years, from 66.7% in 1979 to 86.3% today. Lower literacy levels are mostly attributable to poverty and are found mostly in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Human population projections are attempts to extrapolate how human populations will change in the future. These projections are an important input to forecasts of the population's impact on this planet and humanity's future well-being. Models of population growth take trends in human development and apply projections into the future. These models use trend-based-assumptions about how populations will respond to economic, social and technological forces to understand how they will affect fertility and mortality, and thus population growth.
Adherents of Islam constitute the world's second largest and fastest growing major religious grouping, maintaining suggested 2017 projections in 2022. As of 2020, Pew Research Centre (PEW) projections suggest there are a total of 1.9 billion adherents worldwide. Further studies indicate the worldwide spread and percentage growth of Islam, may be attributed to high birth rates followed by a trend of worldwide adoption and conversion to Islam.
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.)
McKeown's views, updated to modern circumstances, are still important today in debates between those who think that health is primarily determined by medical discoveries and medical treatment and those who look to the background social conditions of life.
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