Population growth facts for kids

Absolute increase in global human population per year

Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 7.9 billion in 2020. The UN projected population to keep growing, and estimates have put the total population at 8.6 billion by mid-2030, 9.8 billion by mid-2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100. However, some academics outside the UN have increasingly developed human population models that account for additional downward pressures on population growth; in such a scenario population would peak before 2100. Others have challenged many recent population projections as having underestimated population growth.

The world human population has been growing since the end of the Black Death, around the year 1350. A mix of technological advancement that improved agricultural productivity 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. Globally, the rate of population growth has declined from a peak of 2.2% per year in 1963. The global human population is projected to peak during the mid-21st century and decline by 2100.

Population growth alongside increased consumption is a driver of environmental concerns, such as biodiversity loss and climate change, due to overexploitation of natural resources for human development. 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.

History

World population has been rising continuously since the end of the Black Death, around the year 1350. 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 and increases in agricultural productivity.

Population growth rate

A world map showing global variations in fertility rate per woman according to the CIA World Factbook's 2016 data

7–8 children      6–7 children

5–6 children      4–5 children

3–4 children      2–3 children

1–2 children      0–1 children

The world population growth rate peaked in 1963 at 2.2% per year and subsequently declined. In 2017, the estimated annual growth rate was 1.1%. The CIA World Factbook gives the world annual birthrate, mortality rate, and growth rate as 1.86%, 0.78%, and 1.08% respectively. 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.

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. 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.

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. Japan's population began decreasing in 2005.

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. 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. 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.

Growth by country

According to United Nations population statistics, the world population grew by 30%, or 1.6 billion humans, between 1990 and 2010. 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%).

Growth rates of the world's most populous countries

Rank	Country	Population			Annual Growth (%)
		1990	2010	2020 (est.)	1990–2010	2010–2020
	World	5,306,425,000	6,895,889,000	7,503,828,180	1.3%	0.8%
1	China	1,139,060,000	1,341,335,000	1,384,688,986	0.8%	0.3%
2	India	873,785,000	1,224,614,000	1,333,000,000	1.7%	0.9%
3	United States	253,339,000	310,384,000	329,256,465	1.0%	0.6%
4	Indonesia	184,346,000	239,871,000	262,787,403	1.3%	0.9%
5	Brazil	149,650,000	194,946,000	208,846,892	1.3%	0.7%
6	Pakistan	111,845,000	173,593,000	207,862,518	2.2%	1.8%
7	Nigeria	97,552,000	158,423,000	203,452,505	2.5%	2.5%
8	Bangladesh	105,256,000	148,692,000	159,453,001	1.7%	0.7%
9	Russia	148,244,000	142,958,000	142,122,776	-0.2%	−0.1%
10	Japan	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, 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	Population in					Life expectancy in years (2008)	Total population growth from 1960s to 2007–2011
	1967	1990	1994	2002	2008
Eritrea*	N/A*	N/A*	3,437,000	4,298,269	5,673,520	61	2,236,520
Ethiopia*	23,457,000*	50,974,000*	54,939,000	67,673,031(2003)	79,221,000	55	55,764,000
Sudan	14,355,000†	25,204,000†	27,361,000†	38,114,160 (2003)†	42,272,000†	50†	27,917,000
Chad	3,410,000	5,679,000	6,183,000	9,253,493(2003)	10,329,208 (2009)	47	6,919,205
Niger	3,546,000	7,732,000	8,846,000	10,790,352 (2001)	15,306,252 (2009)	44	11,760,252
Nigeria	61,450,000	88,500,000	108,467,000	129,934,911	158,259,000	47	96,809,000
Mali	4,745,000	8,156,000	10,462,000	11,340,480	14,517,176(2010)	50	9,772,176
Mauritania	1,050,000	2,025,000	2,211,000	2,667,859 (2003)	3,291,000 (2009)	54	2,241,000
Senegal	3,607,000	7,327,000	8,102,000	9,967,215	13,711,597 (2009)	57	10,104,597
Gambia	343,000	861,000	1,081,000	1,367,124 (2000)	1,705,000	55	1,362,000
Algeria	11,833,126	25,012,000	27,325,000	32,818,500 (2003)	34,895,000	74	23,061,874
The DRC/Zaire	16,353,000	35,562,000	42,552,000	55,225,478 (2003)	70,916,439	54	54,563,439
Egypt	30,083,419	53,153,000	58,326,000	70,712,345 (2003)	79,089,650	72	49,006,231
Réunion (overseas region of France)	418,000	N/A	N/A	720,934 (2003)	827,000 (2009)	N/A	409,000
Falkland Islands (British Overseas Territory)	2,500	N/A	N/A	2,967 (2003)	3,140(2010)	N/A	640
Chile	8,935,500	13,173,000	13,994,000	15,116,435	17,224,200 (2011)	77	8,288,700
Colombia	19,191,000	32,987,000	34,520,000	41,088,227	45,925,397 (2010)	73	26,734,397
Brazil	85,655,000	150,368,000	153,725,000	174,468,575 (2000)	190,732,694 (2010)	72	105,077,694
Mexico	45,671,000	86,154,000	93,008,000	103,400,165 (2000)	112,322,757 (2010)	76	66,651,757
Fiji	476,727 (1966)	765,000	771,000	844,330 (2001)	849,000 (2010)	70	372,273
Nauru	6,050	10,000	N/A	12,329	9,322 (2011)	N/A	3,272
Jamaica	1,876,000	2,420,000	2,429,000	2,695,867 (2003)	2,847,232(2010)	74	971,232
Australia	11,540,764	17,086,000	17,843,000	19,546,792 (2003)	26,854,233 (2010)	82	10,066,508
Albania	1,965,500 (1964)	3,250,000	3,414,000	3,510,484	2,986,952 (July 2010 est.)	78	1,021,452
Poland	31,944,000	38,180,000	38,554,000	38,626,349 (2001)	38,192,000 (2010)	75	6,248,000
Hungary	10,212,000	10,553,000	10,261,000	10,106,017	9,979,000 (2010)	73	-142,000
Bulgaria	8,226,564 (1965)	8,980,000	8,443,000	7,707,495(2000)	7,351,234 (2011)	73	-875,330
United Kingdom	55,068,000 (1966)	57,411,000	58,091,000	58,789,194	62,008,048 (2010)	79	7,020,048
Ireland	2,884,002 (1966)	3,503,000	3,571,000	3,840,838 (2000)	4,470,700 (2010)	78	1,586,698
People's Republic of China	720,000,000	1,139,060,000	1,208,841,000	1,286,975,468 (2004)	1,339,724,852 (2010)	73	619,724,852
Japan‡	98,274,961 (1965)	123,537,000	124,961,000	127,333,002	127,420,000 (2010)	82	28,123,865
India#	511,115,000	843,931,000	918,570,000	1,028,610,328 (2001)	1,210,193,422 (2011)	69	699,078,422
Singapore	1,956,000 (1967)	3,003,000 (1990)	2,930,000 (1994)	4,452,732 (2002)	5,076,700 (2010)	82 (2008)	3,120,700
Monaco	24,000 (1967)	29,000 (1990)	N/A (1994)	31,842 (2000)	35,586 (2010)	(2008)	11,586
Greece	8,716,000 (1967)	10,123,000 (1990)	10,426,000 (1994)	10,964,020 (2001)	11,305,118 (2011)	N/A (2008)	2,589,118
Faroe Islands (Danish dependency)	38,000 (1967)	N/A (1990)	N/A (1994)	46,345 (2000)	48,917 (2010)	N/A (2008)	18,917
Liechtenstein	20,000 (1967)	29,000 (1990)	N/A (1994)	33,307 (2000)	35,789 (2009)	(2008)	15,789
South Korea	29,207,856 (1966)	42,793,000 (1990)	44,453,000 (1994)	48,324,000 (2003)	48,875,000 (2010)	(2008)	19,667,144
North Korea	12,700,000 (1967)	21,773,000 (1990)	23,483,000 (1994)	22,224,195 (2002)	24,051,218 (2010)	(2008)	11,351,218
Brunei	107,200 (1967)	266,000 (1990)	280,000 (1994)	332,844 (2001)	401,890 (2011)	76 (2008)	306,609
Malaysia	10,671,000 (1967)	17,861,000 (1990)	19,489,000 (1994)	21,793,293 (2002)	27,565,821 (2010)	(2008)	16,894,821
Thailand	32,680,000 (1967)	57,196,000 (1990)	59,396,000 (1994)	60,606,947 (2000)	63,878,267 (2011)	(2008)	31,198,267
Lebanon	2,520,000 (1967)	2,701,000 (1990)	2,915,000 (1994)	3,727,703 (2003)	4,224,000 (2009)	- (2008)
Syria	5,600,000 (1967)	12,116,000 (1990)	13,844,000 (1994)	17,585,540 (2003)	22,457,763 (2011)	-(2008)
Bahrain	182,00 (1967)	503,000 (1990)	549,000 (1994)	667,238 (2003)	1,234,596 (2010)	75 (2008)
Sri Lanka	11,741,000 (1967)	16,993,000 (1990)	17,685,000 (1994)	19,607,519 (2002)	20,238,000 (2009)	- (2008)
Switzerland	6,050,000 (1967)	6.712,000 (1990)	6,994,000 (1994)	7,261,200 (2002)	7,866,500 (2010)	- (2008)
Luxembourg	335,000 (1967)	381,000 (1990)	401,000 (1994)	439,539 (2001)	511,840 (2011)	- (2008)
Romania	19,105,056 (1966)	23,200,000 (1990)	22,736,000 (1994)	21,680,974 (2002)	21,466,174 (2011)	- (2008)
Niue (associated state of New Zealand)	1,900 (1966)	N/A (1990)	N/A (1994)	2,134 (2002)	1,398 (2009)	N/A (2008)	-502
Tokelau (New Zealand territory)	5,194 (1966)	N/A (1990)	N/A (1994)	1,445 (2001)	1,416 (2009)	N/A (2008)	-3,778
Jamaica	1,876,000 (1967)	2,420,000 (1990)	2,429,000 (1994)	2,695,867 (2003)	2,847,232 (2010)	74 (2008)	971,232
Argentina	32,031,000 (1967)	32,322,000 (1990)	34,180,000 (1994)	37,812,817 (2002)	40,091,359 (2010)	74 (2008)	8,060,359
France	49,890,660 (1967)	56,440,000 (1990)	57,747,000 (1994)	59,551,000 (2001)	63,136,180 (2011)	81 (2008)
Italy	52,334,000 (1967)	57,662,000 (1990)	57,193,000 (1994)	56,995,744 (2002)	60,605,053 (2011)	80 (2008)
Mauritius	774,000 (1967)	1,075,000 (1990)	1,104,000 (1994)	1,179,137 (2000)	1,288,000 (2009)	75 (2008)	514,000
Guatemala	4,717,000 (1967)	9,197,000 (1990)	10,322,000 (1994)	12,974,361 (2000)	13,276,517 (2009)	70 (2008)	8,559,517
Cuba	8,033,000 (1967)	10,609,000 (1990)	10,960,000 (1994)	11,177,743 (2002)	11,239,363 (2009)	77 (2008)
Barbados	246,000 (1967)	255,000 (1990)	261,000 (1994)	250,012 (2001)	284,589 (2010)	73 (2008)	18,589
Samoa	131,377 (1967)	164,000 (1990)	164,000 (1994)	178,173 (2003)	179,000 (2009)	N/A (2008)
Sweden	7,765,981 (1967)	8,559,000 (1990)	8,794,000 (1994)	8,920,705 (2002)	9,354,462 (2009)	81 (2008)
Finland	4,664,000 (1967)	4,986,000 (1990)	5,095,000 (1994)	5,175,783 (2002)	5,374,781 (2010)	N/A (2008)
Portugal	9,440,000 (1967)	10,525,000 (1990)	9,830,000 (1994)	10,355,824 (2001)	10,647,763 (2011)	N/A (2008)
Austria	7,323,981 (1967)	7,712,000 (1990)	8,031,000 (1994)	8,032,926 (2001)	8,404,252 (2011)	N/A (2008)
Libya	1,738,000 (1967)	4,545,000 (1990)	5,225,000(1994)	5,499,074 (2002)	6,420,000 (2009)	77 (2008)
Peru	12,385,000 (1967)	21,550,000 (1990)	23,080,000(1994)	27,949,639 (2002)	29,496,000 (2010)	70 (2008)
Guinea Bissau	528,000 (1967)	965,000 (1990)	1,050,000 (1994)	1,345,479 (2002)	1,647,000 (2009)	48 (2008)
Angola	5,203,066 (1967)	10,020,000 (1990)	10,674,000 (1994)	10,766,500 (2003)	18,498,000 (2009)	38 (2008)
Equatorial Guinea	277,000 (1967)	348,000 (1990)	389,000 (1994)	474,214 (2000)	676,000 (2009)	61 (2008)
Benin	2,505,000 (1967)	4,736,000 (1990)	5,246,000 (1994)	8,500,500 (2002)	8,791,832 (2009)	59 (2008)
Laos	2,770,000 (1967)	4,139,000 (1990)	4,742,000 (1994)	5,635,967 (2002)	6,800,000 (2011)	56 (2008)
Nepal	10,500,000 (1967)	18,961,000 (1990)	21,360,000 (1994)	25,284,463 (2002)	29,331,000 (2009)	- (2008)
Iran	25,781,090 (1966)	54,608,000 (1990)	59,778,000 (1994)	66,622,704 (2002)	75,330,000 (2010)	71 (2008)	49,548,910
Canada	20,014,880 (1966)	26,603,000 (1990)	29,248,000(1994)	31,081,900 (2001)	32,623,490 (2011)	81 (2008)
United States	199,118,000 (1967)	249,995,000 (1990)	260,650,00(1994)	281,421,906 (2000)	308,745,538 (2010)	78 (2008)
Uganda	7,931,000 (1967)	18,795,000 (1990)	20,621,000 (1994)	24,227,297 (2002)	32,369,558 (2009)	52 (2008)

Notes

* Eritrea left Ethiopia in 1991.

† Split into the nations of Sudan and South Sudan during 2011.

‡ Japan and the Ryukyu Islands merged in 1972.

# India and Sikkim merged in 1975.

Future population