Summary
The world’s population is estimated at 8.1 billion. The world’s population has risen sharply since the beginning of the 20th century. In 1900, the world population was estimated at 1.65 billion, and fifty years later, in 1950, at 2.6 billion.
Population continued to grow in the second half of the 20th century, with 5 billion people living on our planet in 1987. At the dawn of the 21st century, in 1999, the milestone of 6 billion was reached, and in 2011, the world’s population reached 7 billion.
What can we expect in the years ahead?
For the year 2050, experts are still expecting a significant increase in population, reaching 9.7 billion, an increase of 2 billion people.
For the year 2100, estimates are a little more vague and controversial. The UN, for its part, believes that the population will continue to grow, reaching 11 billion. However, researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle (IHME), are leaning more towards a population decline after 2050, to 8.8 billion by 2100, due to the drop in fertility rates observed worldwide. (See link to this article at the end).
How can such a huge increase be explained?
Indeed, the question needs to be asked: how is it that the population has grown so much in barely a century? Two main factors are responsible for this phenomenon: advances in medicine and improved living conditions.
These two factors are responsible for a major increase in life expectancy. In 1960, the life expectancy of a human being was estimated at 52 years, whereas today this figure stands at 72 years.
In addition, improvements in medicine and living conditions have greatly reduced the infant mortality rate. In Canada, in 1960, the infant mortality rate was 27.8 per 1000 births, whereas in 2019, the rate was just 4.2. Globally, over the same period, the infant mortality rate fell from 64.5 per 1000 births to 28.2.
An unevenly distributed population
Population distribution is highly uneven, with Asia alone accounting for 61% of the world’s population. Africa is home to 17% of the population, Europe 10%, South America and the Caribbean 8%, and North America and Oceania 5%.
What’s more, almost 40% of the world’s population lives in just two countries: China (1.44 billion) and India (1.39 billion).
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- https://www.alloprof.qc.ca/fr/eleves/bv/monde-contemporain/la-population-mondiale-h1909
- https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1719804/humain-population-onu-ihme-fecondite-demographie
- https://donnees.banquemondiale.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?end=1960&start=1960&view=bar
- https://perspective.usherbrooke.ca/bilan/servlet/BMTendanceStatPays?langue=fr&codePays=CAN&codeTheme=1&codeStat=SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
- https://donnees.banquemondiale.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
