Until the 1800s, population growth was incredibly slow on a global level. The global population was estimated to have been around 188 million people in the year 1CE, and did not reach one billion until around 1803. However, since the 1800s, a phenomenon known as the demographic transition has seen population growth skyrocket, reaching eight billion people in 2023, and this is expected to peak at over 10 billion in the 2080s.

Historical chart and dataset showing World population growth rate by year from 1961 to 2023.

The world's population first reached one billion people in 1803, and reach eight billion in 2023, and will peak at almost 11 billion by the end of the century. Although it took thousands of years to reach one billion people, it did so at the beginning of a phenomenon known as the demographic transition; from this point onwards, population growth has skyrocketed, and since the 1960s the population has increased by one billion people every 12 to 15 years. The demographic transition sees a sharp drop in mortality due to factors such as vaccination, sanitation, and improved food supply; the population boom that follows is due to increased survival rates among children and higher life expectancy among the general population; and fertility then drops in response to this population growth. Regional differences The demographic transition is a global phenomenon, but it has taken place at different times across the world. The industrialized countries of Europe and North America were the first to go through this process, followed by some states in the Western Pacific. Latin America's population then began growing at the turn of the 20th century, but the most significant period of global population growth occurred as Asia progressed in the late-1900s. As of the early 21st century, almost two thirds of the world's population live in Asia, although this is set to change significantly in the coming decades. Future growth The growth of Africa's population, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, will have the largest impact on global demographics in this century. From 2000 to 2100, it is expected that Africa's population will have increased by a factor of almost five. It overtook Europe in size in the late 1990s, and overtook the Americas a decade later. In contrast to Africa, Europe's population is now in decline, as birth rates are consistently below death rates in many countries, especially in the south and east, resulting in natural population decline. Similarly, the population of the Americas and Asia are expected to go into decline in the second half of this century, and only Oceania's population will still be growing alongside Africa. By 2100, the world's population will have over three billion more than today, with the vast majority of this concentrated in Africa. Demographers predict that climate change is exacerbating many of the challenges that currently hinder progress in Africa, such as political and food instability; if Africa's transition is prolonged, then it may result in further population growth that would place a strain on the region's resources, however, curbing this growth earlier would alleviate some of the pressure created by climate change.

Globally, about 25 percent of the population is under 15 years of age and 10 percent is over 65 years of age. Africa has the youngest population worldwide. In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 40 percent of the population is below 15 years, and only three percent are above 65, indicating the low life expectancy in several of the countries. In Europe, on the other hand, a higher share of the population is above 65 years than the population under 15 years. Fertility rates The high share of children and youth in Africa is connected to the high fertility rates on the continent. For instance, South Sudan and Niger have the highest population growth rates globally. However, about 50 percent of the world’s population live in countries with low fertility, where women have less than 2.1 children. Some countries in Europe, like Latvia and Lithuania, have experienced a population decline of one percent, and in the Cook Islands, it is even above two percent. In Europe, the majority of the population was previously working-aged adults with few dependents, but this trend is expected to reverse soon, and it is predicted that by 2050, the older population will outnumber the young in many developed countries. Growing global population As of 2025, there are 8.1 billion people living on the planet, and this is expected to reach more than nine billion before 2040. Moreover, the global population is expected to reach 10 billions around 2060, before slowing and then even falling slightly by 2100. As the population growth rates indicate, a significant share of the population increase will happen in Africa.

Population, female (% of total population) in World was reported at 49.71 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. World - Population, female (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

In the middle of 2023, about 60 percent of the global population was living in Asia.The total world population amounted to 8.1 billion people on the planet. In other words 4.7 billion people were living in Asia as of 2023. Global populationDue to medical advances, better living conditions and the increase of agricultural productivity, the world population increased rapidly over the past century, and is expected to continue to grow. After reaching eight billion in 2023, the global population is estimated to pass 10 billion by 2060. Africa expected to drive population increase Most of the future population increase is expected to happen in Africa. The countries with the highest population growth rate in 2024 were mostly African countries. While around 1.47 billion people live on the continent as of 2024, this is forecast to grow to 3.9 billion by 2100. This is underlined by the fact that most of the countries wit the highest population growth rate are found in Africa. The growing population, in combination with climate change, puts increasing pressure on the world's resources.

The USA: Percent of world population: The latest value from 2023 is 4.2 percent, a decline from 4.22 percent in 2022. In comparison, the world average is 0.51 percent, based on data from 196 countries. Historically, the average for the USA from 1960 to 2023 is 4.93 percent. The minimum value, 4.2 percent, was reached in 2023 while the maximum of 6.02 percent was recorded in 1961.

The total population in World was estimated at 8142.1 million people in 2024, according to the latest census figures and projections from Trading Economics. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for World Population.

Population growth (annual %) in World was reported at 0.9512 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. World - Population growth (annual %) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

This layer was created by Duncan Smith and based on work by the European Commission JRC and CIESIN. A description from his website follows:--------------------A brilliant new dataset produced by the European Commission JRC and CIESIN Columbia University was recently released- the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL). This is the first time that detailed and comprehensive population density and built-up area for the world has been available as open data. As usual, my first thought was to make an interactive map, now online at- http://luminocity3d.org/WorldPopDen/The World Population Density map is exploratory, as the dataset is very rich and new, and I am also testing out new methods for navigating statistics at both national and city scales on this site. There are clearly many applications of this data in understanding urban geographies at different scales, urban development, sustainability and change over time.

Population ages 15-64, total in World was reported at 5298282443 Persons in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. World - Population ages 15-64, total - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Population, total in World was reported at 8061876001 in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. World - Population, total - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

The geographic distribution of human population is key to understanding the effects of humans on the natural world and how natural events such as storms, earthquakes, and other natural phenomenon affect humans. Dataset SummaryThis layer was created with a model that combines imagery, road intersection density, populated places, and urban foot prints to create a likelihood surface. The likelihood surface is then used to create a raster of population with a cell size of 0.00221 degrees (approximately 250 meters).The population raster is created usingDasymetriccartographic methods to allocate the population values in over 1.6 million census polygons covering the world.The population of each polygon was normalized to the 2013 United Nations population estimates by country.Each cell in this layer has an integer value depicting the number of people that are likely to reside in that cell. Tabulations based on these values should result in population totals that more accurately reflect the population of areas of several square kilometers.This layer has global coverage and was published by Esri in 2014.More information about this layer is available:Building the Most Detailed Population Map in the World

The average for 2023 based on 196 countries was 0.51 percent. The highest value was in India: 17.91 percent and the lowest value was in Andorra: 0 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Before 2025, the world's total population is expected to reach eight billion. Furthermore, it is predicted to reach over 10 billion in 2060, before slowing again as global birth rates are expected to decrease. Moreover, it is still unclear to what extent global warming will have an impact on population development. A high share of the population increase is expected to happen on the African continent.

United States - Population Growth for World was 0.89981 % Chg. at Annual Rate in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Population Growth for World reached a record high of 2.13312 in January of 1971 and a record low of 0.82796 in January of 2021. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Population Growth for World - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.

Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) in World was reported at 24.15 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. World - Population ages 0-14, female (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Jamaica: Percent of world population: The latest value from 2023 is 0.04 percent, unchanged from 0.04 percent in 2022. In comparison, the world average is 0.51 percent, based on data from 196 countries. Historically, the average for Jamaica from 1960 to 2023 is 0.05 percent. The minimum value, 0.04 percent, was reached in 1992 while the maximum of 0.05 percent was recorded in 1960.

Population ages 25-29, male (% of male population) in World was reported at 7.5306 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. World - Population ages 25-29, male (% of male population) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Thailand: Percent of world population: The latest value from 2023 is 0.9 percent, a decline from 0.91 percent in 2022. In comparison, the world average is 0.51 percent, based on data from 196 countries. Historically, the average for Thailand from 1960 to 2023 is 1 percent. The minimum value, 0.88 percent, was reached in 1960 while the maximum of 1.05 percent was recorded in 1983.