I love Our World In Data. They’re a scientific, online publication that uses data to communicate large, global problems in easy to understand ways.
Isn’t this chart insane?
The pink line shows global population growth rate. The green area shows global population. For 200 years the population growth rate has been consistently positive, and the human population has increased every single year without fail.
The UN is predicting that by 2100, the global population rate will fall to 0.1%, and we’ll have hit a “terminal velocity” of sorts at almost 11 billion people on Earth. This will mean that in the space of 250 years, we will have seen a 10x increase in the size of the world’s population—up from only 600 million in 1700 (or less than half of India’s population today!).
We’re just shy of 8 billion humans on the planet today, so I find it hard to imagine 11 billion. Regardless, it’s fascinating to pause, look at the numbers, and to see where we’re headed.
The 21st Century is going to be like no other.