Population

History
The story of our species is one of remarkable success. From a starting point in Africa, our ancestors spread across the planet, harnessing local resources and adapting to the harshest environments.

While some societies collapsed once they had exhausted local resources, and other groups migrated to new lands or fought wars over diminishing local resources, the overall picture was one of continued growth. As technological advances enabled our ancestors to increase agricultural output, their numbers grew exponentially.

Population Growth Curve

The lack of open discussion about this topic means most people are not aware that our high numbers today are such a recent phenomenon. As recently as 1930, in our parents’ or grandparents’ youth, world population was some two billion compared with the seven billion living on the planet now.

Read more about the history of population growth.

Current trends
The population trends projected by the UN vary enormously by region:

Africa and much of Asia are predicted to grow significantly
The Americas are expected to grow somewhat
Europe is predicted to remain relatively stable

The mid-range global projection is that the planet’s population will increase from seven billion to nine billion by 2050. Broader estimates range from eight to 11 billion, depending on how effectively and quickly reproductive and development programmes are implemented in developing areas of the world to address the key drivers of population growth: the lack of reproductive health and contraception, lack of women’s rights and poverty.