How Many People are in The World

If you’re hovering over this page, you might wonder how many people the planet has housed so far. From troglodytes and pharaohs to scientists and tech whizzes, people of different colours, castes, and traditions have been roaming the world since time immemorial, creating a rich tapestry of human history.

Buckle up and join us on a fascinating journey to human history where we will unravel the million-dollar question: how many people are in the world?

We’ll also go through how different factors have influenced population growth and changed the number of humans over millennia.

How Many People Are in the World

As of January 29, 2025, the global population is estimated to be 8,202,250,183, according to the United Nations and Worldometer. It represents over 7.41% of the total projected number of people who have ever graced the Earth. The world’s population is expected to change at a rate of around 0.85% annually in 2025—a slip from 0.97% in 2020, and 1.25% in 2015.

The world is adding more than 70 million new people every year!

World’s Population At a Glance?

Have you ever thought of the vast tapestry of humanity, tracing back through the epochs to our ancestors? How many people have traversed the world, leaving their imprint on history and shaping the world we inhabit today?

On a serious note, a range of factors are behind the estimations archaeologists have made on the number of the human population on Earth:

• Duration of human presence on Earth
• Population sizes at various historical periods, and
• The birth rates per 1,000 individuals during each period.

The number of deaths during the historical periods is considered in this estimation.

The human population took two big leaps shaped by key milestones in social transitions. The first leap was when humankind transitioned from the old stone tools (Paleolithic period) to an agriculture-based society (Neolithic period) by around 1500 BCE. This is when the world’s population exploded for the first time and soared to 150 million from around 5 to 6 million. It means that in 6500 years, the world’s population grew at a rate of a whopping 2627.27%. The history then witnessed a halt for the next two and a half thousand years. By the 18th century, the world’s population started to shoot up when the Industrial Revolution took place and machines and factories burst onto the scene. Since the late 1600s, it has grown more than 15 times. Population kept increasing at a high rate post-industrialisation, with doubling times shrinking drastically. Humankind took a long 200 years to double the population to 1 billion, while after the Industrial Revolution, it took only 100 years to hit the milestone of 2 billion by 1930. Even more starkly, by 1975, we were doubled to 4 billion in only 45 years. In recent years, the world has witnessed a slowdown in the population growth rate compared to previous periods. Because of these plunging growth rates, the world would see its population double in no less than 200 years! It doesn’t mean that the world’s population is dropping. It’s just that the population is not increasing at the pace it did in past centuries.

What Factors Influence Population Growth?

Fertility Rates

Total fertility rate (TFR) – a number that indicates the number of children a woman is expected to give birth to in her lifetime – is a key factor regulating population growth. Over the last few decades, the world has witnessed a significant plunge in TFR. During the 1960s, the global average TFR was 5, which has dipped sharply to less than half that number – 2.3 births per woman in 2023. This trend toward slipping TFR is poised to persist over the next few decades, stressing the need to move toward a replacement fertility rate to keep the world’s population size stable. The trend towards lower fertility rates is expected to continue, gradually moving toward replacement levels necessary for population stability. Regions with TFR above replacement levels experience a higher population growth rate compared to those below the replacement level. Current replacement levels for TFR are 2.1 children per woman in most countries. The ongoing lowering of TFR has a long-term impact on population growth, potentially leading to a slowdown in population increase and stabilisation as it reaches or falls below replacement levels. The consequences can be an increase in the aging population, demographic shifts, and implications for future societal dynamics and resource allocation.

Life Expectancy

Another critical factor influencing population growth is life expectancy. The higher the life expectancy, the longer the people of a country will live. Increasing life expectancy has a significant impact on population growth—the number of older people makes up a larger portion of the total. Global life expectancy has increased by twofold since 1990s. It’s expected to hit a staggering 78.1 years of age in 2050—an an increase of 4.5 years from 73.6 years of age in 2022, thanks to easy access to nutrition, and better treatment, advancements in medical science, and general hygiene. With this, the mortality rate has decreased significantly, which is, of course, good news! However, it has created an imbalance between the birth rate and death rate in the global population. According to a study by the World Health Organisation, the infant mortality rate has decreased globally, with 4.1 million infant deaths in 2017 compared to 8.8 million in 1990, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Age Distribution

How the population of a specific region will be structured greatly depends on the age distribution of that area. For example, regions with a young population in their prime reproductive years making up a significant portion of the total population can expect an increase in population growth. On the other hand, regions with more aging individuals, marked by lower TFR, can face a decrease in population growth. Such a region may also find it challenging to sustain population levels.

Migration

People migrating from one country to another change the population dynamics of both countries. While it increases the number of people in the receiving country, the population declines in the sending country. Most migrants are eligible working-age people who enhance the cultural richness and work productivity of the country that attracts migrants – it’s like a population party that spices up the mix by bringing unique flavours and talent to it.

The Effects of Overpopulation

Let’s go through the long-term implications of increasing population: 

Ecological Degradation 

One of the pressing impacts of increasing population is the exacerbation of existing climate change. Spiking populations mean more consumption, resulting in a long-term strain on available finite resources, such as clean water, fuel, etc. This resource depletion has serious repercussions, throwing off the ecological equilibrium, leading to deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and habitat destruction. According to research conducted by Wynes and Nicholas (2017), developed countries can decouple GHG emissions by 58.6 tonnes CO2-equivalent per year if a family having one fewer child reduces GHG emissions by  58.6 tonnes CO2-equivalent per year.

Healthcare Strain

Growing population can significantly affect the healthcare system of a nation, making quality healthcare hard-to-access for a larger portion of people. As a result, healthcare services may have limited accessibility, healthcare facilities may become overcrowded, and treatments may become expensive, especially for poor communities.

Increasing Social Challenges

The current crisis of energy, water, and land, leading to war in parts of the world, is exacerbated as demand surges with an increasing population. Overpopulation can also make the society unrest—with more people competing for fewer resources, poverty and inequality become more prevalent in society, ultimately leading to instability and never-ending conflicts.

Urbanization Pressures

Another pressing effect of overpopulation is rapid urbanisation, making it challenging for cities to accommodate an influx of people. It strains housing, transportation, healthcare, and urban infrastructure and degrades the quality of life.

Solutions to Overpopulation

Effective dealing with overpopulation is a call for the times that needs global cooperation. It’s a multifaceted approach that includes the implementation of sustainable development strategies, education on family planning, women empowerment, and equal resource distribution among the population. In addition, more focus should be placed on making contraceptives and reproductive health services more accessible. 

Educating girls and women and making them economically solvent is critical to effectively addressing overpopulation issues. It would help keep TFR in check while also reducing infant mortality rates.