Population of the world: statistics, key factors, trends

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

The population of the Earth means the total number of its inhabitants, that is, the number of all people (earthlings). The world population is constantly growing. In mid-2018, there were already 7.6 billion earthlings. The growth in the number of people on Earth is due to chaotic natural processes and is not associated with any expediency. Until 1970, the population of the Earth grew at an accelerating rate, and since 1990 it has been following a linear law. That is, now the population is growing at a constant rate. At the same time, the relative increase (expressed as a percentage of the total population) is gradually decreasing. World population statistics are maintained under the control of the UN.

Factor 1: life expectancy

The modern increase in the number of earthlings is largely due to the increase in life expectancy. Of course, we are all interested in people living longer. After all, the loss of close relatives is almost always a great tragedy.

While scientists do not know what is causing the increase in life expectancy, calling it a natural process, for the most partparts not related to the development of medicine or changes in the well-being of people.

Factor 2: Fertility

Another reason for population growth is the high birth rate. Here the situation is fundamentally different. Rarely is a high birth rate a good thing. After all, it contributes to increased poverty, environmental problems, food shortages and an increase in the frequency of infectious diseases. Fortunately, in recent years it has been slowly but declining. Consistently high rates are mainly only in Africa, where large families are still common. Even in India, the birth rate has reached the level of simple reproduction (due to inertia, the number of Hindus will continue to grow). And, for example, in the USA there is a noticeable decrease. There is a collapse in South Korea.

All this gives hope for a gradual stabilization of the Earth's population.

How world population statistics are kept

Counting the number of inhabitants of the planet, the number of births and deaths is carried out for each country separately. The data flows to a single center under the leadership of the UN, where they are automatically processed, the results are constantly updated on the official website of the UN. Anyone can use this data in their own interests (of course, referring to the source). Thus, the statistics of the world population is carried out on an ongoing basis and is available to everyone.

Planet population projections

No one can say exactly how many people will be on Earth in many years. The more distant the future, themore difficult to make an accurate prediction. The most weighted scenario is offered by the forecast of the United Nations (UN). According to experts, the population curve will reach a plateau by 2100, when the number of people on the planet will be 11 billion people.

It is not clear whether the Earth will be able to "digest" such a number of people, and whether there will be enough resources. Some authors suggest that overpopulation will lead to their rapid depletion, which will provoke the death of most of humanity. But given the constant introduction of new technologies (energy-saving, focused on cheaper raw materials), the likelihood of such apocalyptic scenarios is very small.

Statistics of living standards in the world

The standard of living is a complex composite indicator that includes not only income and price levels, but also the state of the environment, medicine, safety, etc. Therefore, its calculation cannot be 100% objective, but generally reflects the overall picture.

The lowest standard of living is typical for a number of countries on the African continent. And the highest - in North America and the EU. In Eastern Europe, Ukraine has the worst performance. It is located on the 60th place, and Russia - on the 56th. This indicates a relatively similar standard of living in both countries. And this despite the fact that Russia has huge reserves of various minerals, as well as forests and other resources, while in Ukraine there are almost none.

In terms of the quality of life of the population, our country lags behind even many developing countries: Indonesia(55th), Colombia (53), Malaysia (50), India (49), Serbia (48), Lebanon (52), Turkey (44), Mexico (47) and so on. Belarus is already in 38th place, Romania is in 37th.

Denmark, Finland and Switzerland have the highest places.

Conclusion

Thus, the world population statistics show a steady increase in the number of inhabitants. The data is collected and processed by the UN. All statistics of the world population and each country separately are available on the official website of the United Nations.