People across the globe observe July 11 as World Population Day – designated by the United Nations to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues, including their relations to the environment and human development.
Over the past 12 months, the world saw two significant population milestones. First, in November 2022, the global population officially hit eight billion people. Second, in April this year, India surpassed China to become the world’s most populous country, according to UN estimates.
While the world’s population continues to grow, the rate of its growth is actually slowing. Earlier this year, South Korea once again smashed its own record for the world’s lowest fertility rate, while other countries across Asia including Japan and China also recorded their lowest birth rates.
How the world’s population tripled in 70 years
In 1955, there were 2.8 billion people on Earth. Today, that is the population of India and China alone.
According to estimates by the United Nations Population Division, the world will reach some 9.7 billion people by 2050.
By 2050, after India and China, Nigeria is expected to become the world’s third most populous nation, followed by the United States, Pakistan, Indonesia, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Bangladesh, in that order.
Is your country’s population growing or shrinking?
In simple terms, a country’s population can be determined by four factors: births, deaths, immigration (people entering the country), and emigration (people leaving the country).
If the number of births and immigration surpasses the number of deaths and emigration, the population of the country will grow. Conversely, if the opposite occurs, the population will decline.
In 2022, nearly 134 million babies were born around the world. That is an average of 367,000 newborns each day. While this may sound like a lot, it is actually the lowest number of newborns since 2001.
The number of deaths worldwide has also been gradually increasing from less than 50 million before the 1990s to 58 million in 2019. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, deaths sharply increased. In 2020, 63 million deaths were recorded, followed by a record 69 million in 2021. Approximately 67 million deaths were recorded in 2022, according to estimates.
The net result is a global population that grew by 0.8 percent.
The map below highlights the population growth rate for countries around the world in 2022.
Africa is the fastest-growing continent in the world, with countries including Niger, Uganda, DRC, Angola, Chad, Mali and Somalia each growing at a rate greater than 3 percent per year.
On the flip side, most of the world’s fastest-shrinking populations are located in Europe and East Asia. Low birth rates have prompted governments to roll out a wide range of financial incentives and support to new mothers.
