{"id":8400,"date":"2022-07-21T10:58:50","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T15:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/global-population-projected-to-exceed-8-billion-in-2022-half-live-in-just-seven-countries\/"},"modified":"2025-04-23T23:55:45","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T03:55:45","slug":"global-population-projected-to-exceed-8-billion-in-2022-half-live-in-just-seven-countries","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2022\/07\/21\/global-population-projected-to-exceed-8-billion-in-2022-half-live-in-just-seven-countries\/","title":{"rendered":"Global population projected to exceed 8 billion in 2022; half live in just seven countries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-640-wide\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FT_18.07.11_worldPop_feature.jpg?w=640\" alt=\"People shown at a water park in China in 2017. China has the world\u2019s largest population, but is projected to slide down to second place in the global population ranking in 2023. \" class=\"wp-image-304068\" \/><figcaption>People shown at a water park in China in 2017. China has the world\u2019s largest population, but is projected to slide down to second place in the global population ranking in 2023. (VCG via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The world\u2019s population will cross 8 billion in November, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/development\/desa\/pd\/sites\/www.un.org.development.desa.pd\/files\/wpp2022_summary_of_results.pdf\">recently released projections<\/a> from the United Nations. And more than half of all people live in just seven countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">China has the world\u2019s largest population (1.426 billion), but India (1.417 billion) is expected to claim this title next year. The next five most populous nations \u2013 the United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria and Brazil \u2013 together have fewer people than India or China. In fact, China\u2019s population is greater than the entire population of Europe (744 million) or the Americas (1.04 billion) and roughly equivalent to that of all nations in Africa (1.427 billion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-640-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-11344\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2022\/07\/21\/global-population-projected-to-exceed-8-billion-in-2022-half-live-in-just-seven-countries\/ft_22-07-12_globalpopulation-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f3f0ec\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f3f0ec;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/07\/FT_22.07.12_GlobalPopulation.png?resize=480,341 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/07\/FT_22.07.12_GlobalPopulation.png?resize=782,555 782w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/07\/FT_22.07.12_GlobalPopulation.png?resize=960,681 960w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/07\/FT_22.07.12_GlobalPopulation.png?resize=1200,851 1200w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/07\/FT_22.07.12_GlobalPopulation.png?resize=1280,908 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"454\" width=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/07\/FT_22.07.12_GlobalPopulation.png?w=640\" alt=\"A map showing that half the world's population lives in seven countries\" class=\"wp-image-11344 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As recently as 2015, half the world\u2019s population was concentrated in just six countries \u2013 the same as above, with the exception of Nigeria, which was then the seventh most populous country and has since passed Brazil to move into sixth place. Recent population growth, however, has been faster in the rest of the world than in these nations, meaning that the top six now hold slightly less than half (49%) of the world\u2019s people. Including Brazil\u2019s 215 million people puts the world\u2019s seven most populous countries at 51.7% of the global population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the UN\u2019s \u201cmedium\u201d scenario for future population growth \u2013 its middle-of-the-road estimate \u2013 the global population is expected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100. Growth is expected to be concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, where an estimated 29% of all the world\u2019s births happened last year. The 2021 total fertility rate in sub-Saharan Africa, 4.6 births per woman, is double the global average of 2.3 births per woman and triple the average in Europe and Northern America (1.5) and in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia (also 1.5).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Note: This is an update of a post originally published on July 11, 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>China has the world\u2019s largest population (1.426 billion), but India (1.417 billion) is expected to claim this title next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":159,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-07-21T14:59:15Z","apple_news_api_id":"df49db99-a9c5-4524-9ff5-aca04f939287","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-07-21T14:59:15Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A30nbmanFRSSf9aygT5OShw","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[],"bylines":[934],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[507,498,514,513,505,511,515],"research-teams":[],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-8400","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","bylines-conrad-hackett","formats-short-read","regions-countries-asia-pacific","regions-countries-india","regions-countries-international","regions-countries-latin-america","regions-countries-multiple-regions-worldwide","regions-countries-sub-saharan-africa","regions-countries-united-states"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":320,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2022\/07\/21\/global-population-projected-to-exceed-8-billion-in-2022-half-live-in-just-seven-countries\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":11369,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/07\/FT_18.07.11_worldPop_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/07\/FT_18.07.11_worldPop_feature-jpg.webp?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"caption":"People at a water park in China, which is home to the world's largest population. 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(VCG via Getty Images)","chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":11369,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/07\/FT_18.07.11_worldPop_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/07\/FT_18.07.11_worldPop_feature-jpg.webp?w=640&h=320&crop=1","width":640,"height":320,"caption":"People at a water park in China, which is home to the world's largest population. Half of the world's population lives in just seven countries. 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