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World Population
 

World Population: Some Facts

The world population was 6.30 billion in 2003, according to the United Nations Population Fund. It is projected to grow to 8.91 billion by 2050. Four out of every five people in the world live in the developing world. By 2050, the developing world will have 88% of the world's population, up from the present 81%.

The developed world has reached a stage where the number of births equal to the number of deaths. This gives a negligible population growth rate of 0.2% and a stable population in terms of numbers. The developing countries, on the other hand, are estimated to be growing at the rate of 1.5% per year.

World Population in 2006
(Source: 2006 World Population Datasheet, Population Reference Bureau )
Projected World Population in 2050
(Source:2006 World Population Datasheet, Population Reference Bureau )
Comparison of World Population, 2006 and 2050
(Source: 2006 World Population Datasheet, Population Reference Bureau )
 

World Population Growth, in Billion

World population is projected to cross the 7 billion mark in 2013; the 8 billion mark in 2028; the 9 billion mark in 2054.

  • It has taken just 12 years for the world to add this most recent billion people (6 billion). This is the shortest period of time in world history for a billion people to be added.
  • World population did not reach one billion until 1804. It took 123 years to reach 2 billion in 1927, 33 years to reach 3 billion in 1960, 14 years to reach 4 billion in 1974 and 13 years to reach 5 billion in 1987.
  • World population nearly stabilizes at just above 10 billion after 2200.
World Population Growth in Billion
(Source: The United Nation Population Division: The World at Six Billion, 1999

 

Population Growth in More and Less Developed Countries

  • The increase in world population growth is mainly contributed by less developed regions which include majority of Asian, African and Latin American countries and most of this growth is taking place in the urban areas of these countries.
  • By 2050, nearly 90 percent of the world’s population will be living in less developed nations
  • Today, six countries account for half of the world’s annual growth of 77 million: India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Indonesia. India alone accounts for about a fifth of the world’s total population growth.
Population Growth in More and Less Developed Countries
(Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision, 2005

 

Women of Childbearing Age (15-49), World Scenario

  • The number of women of childbearing age more than doubled between 1950 and 1990: from 620 million to over 1.3 billion.
  • Their numbers are expected to reach over 2 billion by the middle of this century, according to the UN.
  • The growing population of women in their childbearing years and their male partners will contribute to the future world population growth, even if levels of childbearing continue to decline.
Women of Childbearing Age (World Scenario)
(Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision, 2005
 

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(Website last updated on 13th June, 2008)