The world population has grown rapidly, particularly over the past century: in 1900, there were fewer than 2 billion people on the planet. The world population was around 8.1 billion in 2023.

Two metrics determine the change in the world population: the number of babies born and the number of people dying.

How many babies are born each year?

The first chart shows the annual number of births since 1950 and includes the projections made by the UN until the end of the century. You can switch this chart to any other country or world region.

There were 134 million babies born in 2023.

The second chart shows the annual number of births by world region from 1950 to 2021.

How many people die each year?

The first chart here shows the annual number of deaths since 1950 and includes the projection made by the UN until the end of the century. Again, it is possible to switch this chart to any other country or world region.

There were 61 million people who died in 2023.

Combined with the fact that 134 million babies were born in 2023, the world population increased by 73 million people in 2023 (134 million births - 61 million deaths = 73 million more people; a net increase of 0.91%).

The second chart shows the annual number of deaths by world region from 1950 to 2021.

As the number of deaths approaches the number of births, global population growth will end.

How do we expect this to change in the coming decades? What does this mean for population growth?

Population projections suggest that the number of annual births will remain at around 130 to 140 million per year over the coming decades. It is expected to decline slowly in the second half of the century. As the world population ages, the annual number of deaths is expected to continue to increase in the coming decades until it reaches a similar annual number as global births towards the end of the century.

As the number of births is expected to fall slowly and the number of deaths to rise, the global population growth rate will continue to fall. This is when the world population will stop increasing in the future.

Hannah Ritchie and Edouard Mathieu (2023) - “How many people die and how many are born each year?” Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/births-and-deaths' [Online Resource]

@article{owid-births-and-deaths,
    author = {Hannah Ritchie and Edouard Mathieu},
    title = {How many people die and how many are born each year?},
    journal = {Our World in Data},
    year = {2023},
    note = {https://ourworldindata.org/births-and-deaths}
}

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