World Population: Past, Present, and Future

(move and expand the bar at the bottom of the chart to navigate through time)

The chart above illustrates how world population has changed throughout history.View the full tabulated data.

At the dawn of agriculture, about 8000 B.C., the population of the world was approximately 5 million. Over the 8,000-year period up to 1 A.D. it grew to 200 million (some estimate 300 million or even 600, suggesting how imprecise population estimates of early historical periods can be), with a growth rate of under 0.05% per year.

A tremendous change occurred with the industrial revolution: whereasit had taken all of human history until around 1800 for world population to reach one billion, the second billion was achieved in only 130 years (1930), the third billion in 30 years (1960), the fourth billion in 15 years (1974), and the fifth billion in only 13 years (1987).

• During the 20th century alone, the population in the world has grown from 1.65 billion to 6 billion.
• In 1970, there were roughly half as many people in the world as there are now.
• Because of declininggrowth rates, it will now take over 200 years to double again.

Wonder how big was the world’s population when you were born?
Check out thissimple wizard or thismore elaborated one to find out.

Sources:

• World Population Prospects: The 2024 Revision - United Nations Population Division
• The World at Six Billion, World Population, Year 0 to near stabilization [Pdf file] - United Nations Population Division

Growth Rate

Population in the world is growing at a rate of around0.85% per year in 2025 (down from 0.97% in 2020, and 1.25% in 2015). The current population increase is estimated at around70 million people per year.

Annual growth rate reached its peak in the mid 1960s, when it was at around 2%. The rate of increase has nearly halved since then, and will continue to decline in the coming years.

World population will therefore continue to grow in the 21st century, but at amuch slower rate compared to the recent past. World population has doubled (100% increase) in 40 years from 1959 (3 billion) to 1999 (6 billion). It is now estimated that it will increase by 50% in the subsequent 40 years, to reach 9 billion by 2037.

The latestworld population projections indicate that world population will reach 10 billion persons in the year 2060 and 10.2 billion in 2100.

World Population (2025 and historical)

View the complete population historical table

World Population Forecast (2030-2050)

View population projections for all years (up to 2100)

World Population Milestones

10 Billion (2060)

The United Nations projects world population will reach 10 billion in the year 2060.

9 Billion (2037)

World population is expected to reach 9 billion in the year 2037.

8.2 Billion (current)

The current world population is8,211,939,609 as ofFriday, March 21, 2025 according to the most recent United Nations estimates [1] elaborated by Worldometer. The term “World Population” refers to the human population (the total number of humans currently living) of the world.

8 Billion (2022)

World population has reached8 billion people inthe first half of 2022, according to the United Nations (after being previously estimated to occur onNovember 15, 2022). The U.S. Census BureauInternational Database (IDB) estimates instead that the world population hit 8 billion on September 26, 2023. In their note, the U.S. Census Bureau added: “Emphasis on the word estimates. There are many sources of uncertainty in estimating the global population, and it’s unlikely this population milestone was reached on that exact date” [source]

7 Billion (2010)

According to the latest revision by the United Nations (released in 2024), world population reached7 Billion in the first half of 2010 (after being previously estimated as occurring on October 31, 2011). The U.S. Census Bureau made a different estimate, for which the 7 billion mark wasreached on March 12, 2012.

6 Billion (1998)

According to the latest revision by the United Nations (released in 2024), the6 billion figure was reached in the first half of 1998 (this was previously estimated as occurring on October 12, 1999, celebrated as theDay of 6 Billion). According to the U.S. Census Bureau instead, the six billion milestone was reached on July 22, 1999, at about 3:49 AM GMT. Yet, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the date and time of when 6 billion was reached will probably change because the already uncertain estimates are constantly being updated.

Previous Milestones

• 5 Billion: 1986
• 4 Billion: 1974
• 3 Billion: 1960
• 2 Billion: 1930
• 1 Billion: 1804

Summary Table

World Population by Region

World Population Density (people/km²)

Population density map of the world showing not only countries but also many subdivisions (regions, states, provinces). See also:World Map

Courtesy ofJunuxx aten.wikipedia [CC-BY-SA-3.0 orGFDL],via Wikimedia Commons

World Population by Religion

According to a study (based on the 2010 world population of 6.9 billion) byThe Pew Forum, there are:

• 2,173,180,000 Christians (31% of world population), of which 50% are Catholic, 37% Protestant, 12% Orthodox, and 1% other.
• 1,598,510,000 Muslims (23%), of which 87-90% are Sunnis, 10-13% Shia.
• 1,126,500,000 No Religion affiliation (16%): atheists, agnostics and people who do not identify with any particular religion. One-in-five people (20%) in the United States are religiously unaffiliated.
• 1,033,080,000 Hindus (15%), the overwhelming majority (94%) of which live in India.
•    487,540,000 Buddhists (7%), of which half live in China.
•    405,120,000 Folk Religionists (6%): faiths that are closely associated with a particular group of people, ethnicity or tribe.
•       58,110,000 Other Religions (1%): Baha’i faith, Taoism, Jainism, Shintoism, Sikhism, Tenrikyo, Wicca, Zoroastrianism and many others.
•       13,850,000 Jews (0.2%), four-fifths of which live in two countries: United States (41%) and Israel (41%).

World Population by Country

How many people have ever lived on earth?

It was written during the 1970s that 75% of the people who had ever been born were alive at that moment. This was false.

Assuming that we start counting from about 50,000 B.C., the time when modern Homo sapiens appeared on the earth (and not from 700,000 B.C. when the ancestors of Homo sapiens appeared, or several million years ago when hominids were present), taking into account that all population data are a rough estimate, and assuming a constant growth rate applied to each period up to modern times,it has been estimated that a total of approximately106 billion people have been born since the dawn of the human species, making the population currently alive roughly 6% of all people who have ever lived on planet Earth.

Others have estimated the number of human beings who have ever lived to be anywhere from 45 billion to 125 billion, with most estimates falling into the range of90 to 110 billion humans.

World Population clock: sources and methodology

The world population counter displayed on Worldometer takes into consideration data from two major sources: theUnited Nations and theU.S. Census Bureau.

1. TheUnited Nations Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs every two years calculates, updates, and publishes estimates of total population in itsWorld Population Prospects series. These population estimates and projections provide the standard and consistent set of population figures that are used throughout the United Nations system.

   TheWorld Population Prospect: the 2024 Revision provides the most recent data available (released in July of 2024). Estimates and projected world population and country specific populations are given from 1950 through 2100 and are released every two years. Worldometer, as it is common practice, utilizes themedium fertility estimates.

   Data underlying the population estimates are national and sub national census data and data on births, deaths, and migrants available from national sources and publications, as well as from questionnaires. For all countries, census and registration data are evaluated and, if necessary, adjusted for incompleteness by the Population Division as part of its preparations of the official United Nations population estimates and projections.

2. TheInternational Programs Center at the U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division also develops estimates and projections based on analysis of available data (based on census, survey, and administrative information) on population, fertility, mortality, and migration for each country or area of the world. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, world population reached 7 billion on March 12, 2012.

   For most countries adjustment of the data is necessary to correct for errors, omissions, and inconsistencies in the data. Finally, since most recent data for a single country is often two years old on average, thecurrent world population figure is necessarily a projection of past data based on assumed trends. As new data become available, assumptions and data are reevaluated and past conclusions and current figures may be modified.

   For information about how these estimates and projections are made by the U.S. Census Bureau, see thePopulation Estimates and Projections Methodology.

Why Worldometer’s Population Clock is the most accurate

The above world population clock is based on the latest estimates released in July of 2024 by the United Nations. It will show the same number wherever you are in the world and whatever time you set on your PC.

Visitors around the world visiting a PC clock based counter, instead, will see different numbers depending on where they are located. This is the case with other world population clocks - such as the one hosted on a United Nations website, reaching 8 billion in 24 different instances (one per hour) on November 15, 2022, when each local time zone reached 12:10:08. Similarly, in 2011, the clocks on a UN website and on National Geographic - showed 7 billion whenever the visitor’s locally set PC clocks reached 4:21:10 AM on October 31, 2011.

Obviously, the UN data is based on estimates and can’t be 100% accurate, so in all honesty nobody can possibly say with any degree of certainty on which day world population reached 7 billion (or any other exact number), let alone at what time. But once an estimate is made (based on the best data and analysis available), the world population clock should be showing the same number at any given time anywhere around the world.