11 Things You Might Not Know about the Earth’s Population

July 11 is World Population Day – an international observation established in 1989, to focus attention on the urgency of population issues.

In honor of the event, check out these interesting facts about our planet’s population.

#1 – Total World Population – Updated in Real-Time

Today there are more than 7.5 billion people on the planet. At the time we wrote this blog yesterday, there were 7,517,407,010. If you want to see how many there are right now, click on this Worldometer link, which keeps track in real-time.

Yesterday this site also showed a net population growth of 43,075,101 this year.

Other interesting facts from the website include:

• 2,713,082 hectares of forest loss this year 
• 45,095,688 barrels of oil pumped today
• $113,756,538 spent on videogames today
• 4,284,375 deaths caused by cancer this year
• 2,607,809 deaths caused by smoking this year
• 1,305,589 deaths caused by alcohol this year

#2 – Percent of Population with Internet Access

According to Internet Live Stats, approximately 40% of the world population has an internet connection. In 1995, it was less than 1%.

As of yesterday that was:

• 3,677,074,457 Internet users in the world
• 109,595,503,037 emails sent in one day
• 2,655,119 blog posts written in one day

Other interesting facts about the world’s access to technology:

• 18% don’t have electricity
• 95% have access to a mobile/cellular network
• 65% use cell phones

#3 – Percent of People without Clean Drinking Water

According to the World Health Organization:

• 2.6 billion people have gained access to improved drinking water since 1990
• 663 million people rely on unimproved sources
• Globally, at least 1.8 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with feces (ugh)
• By 2025, half of the world’s population will live in water-stressed areas

Contaminated water can transmit diseases such as cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and polio. In fact, contaminated drinking water is estimated to cause 502,000 deaths each year.

The 100 People World Portrait adds that 14% of the world’s population doesn’t even have a toilet(!).

Worldometer tells us that 5,742,581,915 million liters of water have been consumed so far this year.

#4 – The World’s Most Populated Countries

You probably knew that China had more people than any other country. But who’s #2?

Here’s the top 5:

• China with 1,373,540,000
• India with 1,266,880,000
• United States with 324,000,000
• Indonesia with 258,320,000
• Brazil with 205,820,000

Russia is #9 and Japan is #10.

Here are the world’s most popular languages:

• 12% of the world speaks Chinese as a first language
• 6% speaks Spanish
• 5% speaks English
• 4% speaks Hindi
• 3% speaks Arabic

Which country is the smallest? Vatican City, with only 1,000 people. Next smallest is Nauru, a South Pacific island, with 9,540 people.

#5 – The World Population Could Grow… Or Shrink

We’ve all heard of the “population explosion,” and for years experts have warned against overcrowding the planet. But is the population still growing? Will it continue to?

Right now, yes – the population is growing. Just in the time it took me to write this blog, our total increased by tens of thousands. But whether or not that trend continues, depends on popular attitudes toward family size. 

According to UN estimates, “by the end of the century, the world’s population might be as high as 17 billion or as low as 7 billion. Much of the difference will depend on how fast fertility rates fall.” Large families are not as common as they used to be. In the early 1970s, women had on average 4.5 children each; by 2014, women averaged 2.5 children. For many years in China (from 1979-2015), families could be fined if they had more than one child. Today, the Chinese government allows two children per family.

#6 – Equality of the Sexes

Do you think there are more boys in the world, or girls? Turns out the population is almost evenly divided, 50/50!

The genders are still not equal with regard to education, however. More males have a high school education than females, and more males are taught to read and write.

#7 – People Like the City Life

For the first time in history, more than 50% of the Earth’s population is urban – and experts expect this trend to continue, especially in developing countries. Benefits include increased access to jobs, education and human services, but infrastructure needs to be able to keep up with population expansion. A 2015 article in Forbes says, “As city life becomes a reality for an ever-greater share of the world’s population, governments, companies, and civil society must recognize that they are largely unequipped to deal with city-level problems.”

#8 - Some of Us Eat Too Much

OK, you probably knew that. But did you know that over 10% of the world’s population is now obese? Obesity has jumped in the last 30 years, reaching 682,153,945 people, as of yesterday.

Other food-related stats:

• Yesterday there were 738,042,118 undernourished people in the world, however the number was dropping as I wrote this blog
• 14,381 people died of hunger yesterday, and that number was rising as I wrote

#9 – More Single People in the World

As with obesity, there are also now more unmarried people in the U.S. than ever before. (We think those two stats are unrelated). According to the article in The Conversation, people are staying single longer before settling down, and many are staying single for life. The article claims that this trend toward the single life is making our population more social – not only with love interests, but also with friends, family, and neighbors.

#10 – Some People Can’t Read

14% of the world population still can’t read and write. Approximately 35% have no high school education, although that number is much lower in the U.S., where almost 92% of us have at least been to high school.

Only 7% of the world’s population has a college degree!

#11 – More Young People in the World

 According to the Youth Envoy, there are more young people on Earth than ever before, creating unprecedented potential for economic and social progress. There are about 1.8 billion people between the ages of 10 and 24, many concentrated in developing countries. In fact, this age group makes up the majority of the population in the world’s 48 least-developed countries.

The populations of underdeveloped countries often suffer from poverty, malnutrition, and lack of access to technology and education. However, “with proper investment in their education and opportunities, these young people’s ideas, ideals, and innovations could transform the future.”

Think about that. If you’re part of the next generation of scientists, artists, doctors, communicators, and world leaders – or if you’re raising or educating these young people – you can transform the future of our planet.