Global Population

Courtesy of WOA (World Overpopulation Awareness)

Population, and specifically, overpopulation, has become a neglected and even unpopular issue. Overpopulation is a serious problem getting worse every year: if we continue at the current rate, population will double to over 11 billion by 2035. Overpopulation is the root of most, if not all, environmental, resource, and economic issues: timber over-harvesting, loss of arable land, ocean depletion, food shortages, water shortages, energy shortages, air pollution, water pollution, flooding, plant and animal habitat loss, global warming, immigration and war.

Yet not enough people seem to be aware of the problem. If they are, most are unwilling to implement the obvious solution: stop giving birth to more children.

Population Facts

One billion teenagers are just entering their reproductive years - The largest "youthquake" ever. The world is growing by more than 76 million people a year. At the current rate of growth, even accounting for a continual decrease in the growth rate, the world population is headed for double digits within 50 years.

Every 20 minutes, the world adds another 3,500 human lives but loses one or more entire species of animal or plant life - at least 27,000 species per year. ZGP July 1999

World population growth peaked at about two percent per year in the early 1960s. Latest population figures indicate that the rate of growth has slowed to 1.33 percent annually, equivalent to 78 million people a year. UNFPA 1999

The highest world population growth rate was 2.04 percent in the late 1960's. This year, it is about 1.31 percent. NY Times

World population growth is equivalent to around three babies every second. UNFPA '99

New inhabitants add the equivalent of a city the size of San Francisco to world population every three days. The Houston Chronicle Feb 2000

The world's population broke through the one billion threshold in 1804. The second billion took 123 years to accumulate, and then each succeeding billion has come at an accelerating rate. UNFPA '99

It took just 12 years to leap from 5 billion to 6 billion. In the 19th century global population grew by only 600 million, but in the 20th century it grew by 4.4 billion. There are twice as many people today as there were in 1960. Even with a continued decline in fertility rates, the United Nations projects a population of 8.9 billion in 2050. With current trends, world population isn't expected to stabilize until after 2080. UNFPA '99

One tenth of all the people who have ever lived are alive today.

Measuring from time of Christ Jesus, it took about 18 centuries for the earth to reach its first one billion inhabitants, one century to reach its second billion, one decade to get its last billion. from George Moffett, author of Critical Masses

World population reached:

1 billion in 1804,
2 billion in 1927 (123 years later)
3 billion in 1960 (33 years)
4 billion in 1974 (13 years)
5 billion in 1987 (12 years)
6 billion in 1999 (12 years)
7 billion in 2013 (14 years - projected)
8 billion in 2028 (15 years - projected)
10.7 (high) or 8.9 (middle) or 7.3 (low) billion projected for 2050

The world is adding about 78 million more people every year, the population of France, Greece and Sweden combined, or equivalent to a city the size of San Francisco every three days.

Birth rates are falling worldwide but death rates are declining even faster.

World Population Gradually Slowing but Total to Hit 9 Billion in Next 50 Years. US Census Bureau Jan 1999

The richest 20 percent of humanity consumes 86 percent of all goods and services, while the poorest fifth consumes just 1.3 percent.

Only 17% of the world's population lives in industrialized countries

The average life expectancy is 61, up from 40 in just 50 years. The numbers of people 65 and older make up 10-15% of the world population today and is expected to increase to 20-30% by 2050.

If fertility remained at current levels, the population would reach the absurd figure of 296 billion in just 150 years. Even if it dropped to 2.5 children per woman and then stopped falling, the population would still reach 28 billion. From "A Special Moment in History" by Bill McKibben from May 98 Atlantic Monthly

There has been more growth in population since 1950 than during the 4 million years since our early ancestors first stood upright.

—Richard Estrada

Population Overshoot

NOVA

World in the Balance

World Overpopulation Awareness

Optimum Human Population Size

Overshoot in a nutshell

(Malthus was an optimist)

Industrialization:

Prelude to Collapse

DIE OFF