2021 World Population by Country

The current US Census Bureau world population estimate in June 2019 shows that the current global population is 7,577,130,400 people on earth, which far exceeds the world population of 7.2 billion from 2015. Our own estimate based on UN data shows the world's population surpassing 7.7 billion.

China is the most populous country in the world with a population exceeding 1.4 billion. It is one of just two countries with a population of more than 1 billion, with India being the second. As of 2018, India has a population of over 1.355 billion people, and its population growth is expected to continue through at least 2050. By the year 2030, the country of India is expected to become the most populous country in the world. This is because India’s population will grow, while China is projected to see a loss in population.

The next 11 countries that are the most populous in the world each have populations exceeding 100 million. These include the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Russia, Mexico, Japan, Ethiopia, and the Philippines. Of these nations, all are expected to continue to grow except Russia and Japan, which will see their populations drop by 2030 before falling again significantly by 2050.

Many other nations have populations of at least one million, while there are also countries that have just thousands. The smallest population in the world can be found in Vatican City, where only 801 people reside.

In 2018, the world’s population growth rate was 1.12%. Every five years since the 1970s, the population growth rate has continued to fall. The world’s population is expected to continue to grow larger but at a much slower pace. By 2030, the population will exceed 8 billion. In 2040, this number will grow to more than 9 billion. In 2055, the number will rise to over 10 billion, and another billion people won’t be added until near the end of the century. The current annual population growth estimates from the United Nations are in the millions - estimating that over 80 million new lives are added each year.

This population growth will be significantly impacted by nine specific countries which are situated to contribute to the population growth more quickly than other nations. These nations include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and the United States of America. Particularly of interest, India is on track to overtake China's position as the most populous country by the year 2030. Additionally, multiple nations within Africa are expected to double their populations before fertility rates begin to slow entirely.

Global life expectancy has also improved in recent years, increasing the overall population life expectancy at birth to just over 70 years of age. The projected global life expectancy is only expected to continue to improve - reaching nearly 77 years of age by the year 2050. Significant factors impacting the data on life expectancy include the projections of the ability to reduce AIDS/HIV impact, as well as reducing the rates of infectious and non-communicable diseases.

Population aging has a massive impact on the ability of the population to maintain what is called a support ratio. One key finding from 2017 is that the majority of the world is going to face considerable growth in the 60 plus age bracket. This will put enormous strain on the younger age groups as the elderly population is becoming so vast without the number of births to maintain a healthy support ratio.

Although the number given above seems very precise, it is important to remember that it is just an estimate. It simply isn't possible to be sure exactly how many people there are on the earth at any one time, and there are conflicting estimates of the global population in 2016.

Some, including the UN, believe that a population of 7 billion was reached in October 2011. Others, including the US Census Bureau and World Bank, believe that the total population of the world reached 7 billion in 2012, around March or April.

What will the world look like in 2050? The world’s population 30 years from now may look more different than we expect. According to World Population Prospects, the global population in 2050 will be around 9.77 billion people, which is 2 billion more than what the current population is today.

In terms of each country’s population growth, we can expect India to surpass China as the most populated country in the world by 2050. Today, India’s growth rate is 1.08% while China, the most populated country in the world at the moment, has a growth rate of only 0.35%. By 2050, India’s population will hit 1.66 billion people, and China will come in second place with a population of 1.36 billion.

The United States currently is the third most populated country in the world, but is expected to drop to fourth most populated by 2050. Instead, fast-growing Nigeria will become the third most populated country by 2050 with its current growth rate of 2.6%. Nigeria’s population will be around 410 million by 2050 while the US in 2050 will have about 390 million people.

Vatican City is predicted to continue being the least populated country in the world in 2050. It currently has a negative growth rate and is predicted to have 800 people by 2050.

Trends are pointing towards the most populated countries reaching their capacities and slowing down their population growths. Meanwhile, less populated countries with developing industries and technologies will see a boom in population growth, which are similar factors that allowed the recent growth of India and China in the last century.

The diffusion of health developments and technology will increase the global population overall. We predict the world to be around 30% more populated by 2050 because of better healthcare allowing longer life expectancy and lower infant mortality rates. The population will be aging because of a declining fertility rate as well, for individuals have more access to birth control and family planning.

Many predictions for the year 2050 are still unknown as we still wait to see the impact of computers, artificial intelligence, and environmental changes. If the global population is growing overall, we will face more constrained resources until technology can overcome any production shortages or environmental damage.

As of the beginning of 2019, the world population is approximately 7.7 billion people. Many researchers have tried breaking this population down into different racial groups, but each nation measures different ethnic and racial components in different ways. Therefore, specific statistics and racial demographics of the world population as a whole are difficult to find as countries have not found a way to consolidate their findings or compromised in measuring the same single indicator of race.

Breaking down the global population by race is difficult primarily because of the meaning of the word “race.” Race is considered as a construct defined by society based on certain biological features that society has deemed to be significant. For example, some racial groupings are determined by physical differences like skin tone, hair color, and other facial features. However, there are so many different variations and exceptions to the evolving term “race” that many sociologists insist that no clear-cut races exist and that race is just genetic variations that shouldn’t carry weight on society.

Race is to not be confused with ethnicity, which is shared cultural heritage. The main difference between race and ethnicity is that race is inherited genetic traits while ethnicity is a set of customs, language, and practices that are learned and passed down from generation to generation.

Many countries measure their diversity through data on race, ethnicity, or a combination or variation of both. For instance, the United States includes race as self-identified data that reflects a social definition rather than a biological or anthropological one. Citizens report themselves as White, Black or African American, American Indian, Asian, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. Meanwhile, other countries may use different measures of ethnic groups, such as English, German, East Indian, etc.

Throughout most of history, the world's population has been much smaller than it is now. Before the invention of agriculture, for example, the human population was estimated to be around 15 million people at most.

Here's an interesting perspective on today's world population in 2016: today's world population (~7 billion) is approximately 6% of the estimated 110 billion who have ever lived.

The introduction of agriculture and the gradual movement of humanity into settled communities saw the global population increase gradually to around 300 million by AD 0. To give you an idea of scale, the Roman Empire, which many regard as one of the strongest empires the world has ever seen, probably contained only around 50 million people at its height; that's less than the number of people in England today.

It wasn't until the early 19th century that the world population reached its first big milestone: 1 billion people. Then, as the industrial revolution took hold and living standards improved, the rate of population growth increased considerably. Over the next hundred years, the population of the world doubled, reaching 2 billion in the late 1920s.

The 20th century, however, is where population growth really took off, and over the past 100 years, the planet's population has more than tripled in size. This massive increase in human population is largely due to improvements in diet, sanitation and medicine, especially compulsory vaccination against many diseases.

Here's a timeline of the world population growth milestones:

• Year 1: 200 million
• Year 1000: 275 million
• Year 1500: 450 million
• Year 1650: 500 million
• Year 1750: 700 million
• Year 1804: 1 billion
• Year 1850: 1.2 billion
• Year 1900: 1.6 billion
• Year 1927: 2 billion
• Year 1950: 2.55 billion
• Year 1955: 2.8 billion
• Year 1960: 3 billion
• Year 1970: 3.7 billion
• Year 1985: 4.85 billion
• Year 1999: 6 billion
• Year 2011: 7 billion
• Year 2025: 8 billion

What happens next isn't quite so clear.

Most people agree that population increases will continue, but there are arguments about the rate of increase, and even a few people who believe population decreases are likely. You can see some example trends in this graph.

The United Nations has gradually been revising its predictions downwards, and now believes that the world population in 2050 will be around 9 billion. It believes that, as the world grows steadily richer and the average family size decreases, growth will steadily slow and eventually stop.

However, others believe that poverty, inequality and continued urbanization will encourage steadily increasing growth, particularly in countries in Africa and parts of Asia, where growth is already much higher than the global average.

A few scientists even believe that populations will decrease. Some believe that gradual increases in living standards will result in similar patterns to those in Western Europe, where birth rates are declining rapidly. Others believe that the current world population is unsustainable, and predict that humanity will simply not be able to produce enough food and oil to feed itself and sustain our industrial economy.

Although the population of the world increases daily, population growth rate has been declining over the last century. The rate of population growth was highest in 1970, around 2% growth per year, before declining in 1980. The 80’s brought a slight stagnant rise in the population growth rate, but in the 1990’s, the rate of population growth dropped down to less than 1.5% and has been declining throughout the 2000’s. The annual growth rate of the world population in 2019 is around 1.1% and is predicted to decrease even more in the next few decades, continuing the trend of slower population growth.