Currently our planet is inhabited by more than 7,7 billion people.
World Population Day, an annual event observed on July 11, aims to increase awareness on various population issues such as the importance of family planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal health and human rights.
The industrial revolution in the 1800s brought about a tremendous change in the world’s population. Where it had taken all of human history until around 1800 for the world population to reach one billion, the second billion was achieved in only 130 years (1930), the third billion in 30 years (1960), the fourth billion in 15 years (1974), and the fifth billion in only 13 years (1987).
During the 20th century alone, the population in the world has grown from 1.65 billion to 6 billion.
In 1970, there were roughly half as many people in the world as there are now.
Events such as World Population Day have made a huge difference to the growing population rate. Education leads to people having fewer children who could be raised in better circumstances and with better opportunities, resulting in declining population growth rates.
Due to declining growth rates, it will take over 200 years to double the population size again.