World population: data for 2021

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As of mid-June 2021, the population growth amounted to more than 43 million and now there are 7,895,123,934 people . The world's population is growing, but much more slowly than in previous centuries. Analysts believe the world's population will reach 8 billion in about 14 years. And every year the difference in growth rates will only grow.

We will talk about the reasons for such low indicators, about population density, how the covid-19 pandemic has affected the number of people in the world, and also assume whether the Earth is facing overpopulation or a total reduction in the number of people.

Current picture of the number of people by country

The table contains information on the number and density of the population of 224 countries of the world, as well as the percentage of the state’s inhabitants from the total number of all people on the planet.

World population for 2021

Impact of the COVID-19 virus on the world population?

To understand whether the coronavirus has affected demographics, it is necessary to take data from the last three years for comparison. As of January 1, 2018, there were 7,591,515,998 inhabitants in the world. On this same day in 2021, there were already approximately 7,674,314,922 people in the world (82.7 million more). However, if you look at the percentage, you can see a clear decline: 1.11% versus 1.09%. Although at this time there was no pandemic yet. It turns out that the reason for the drop in the number of people between 2018 and 2019 is not tied to the epidemic.

In 2020 , there was a slight jump of 81.6 million to 7,756,041,003 souls. In percentage terms, the drop again reached 1.06%.

According to official WHO data, almost 4 million people have died from the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic. In total, 60,816,965 people died in 2021. The increase is 81-82 million per year. It turns out that COVID-19 has not critically affected the demographic picture in the world.

Population structure

In 2021, scientists conducted a study aimed at analyzing the age composition of the world's population. The results showed that the average age was 30-35 years . Experts also estimate that for 705 million people over 65 years of age, there are 680 million children under 4 years of age. This proves that the population is aging. A striking example of this is the People's Republic of China. Now it has a population of 1.4 billion. But if in the next 50 years there is no increase in youth in the country, then China will face a reduction to 1.1 billion. And then India will take first place.

Who is more on the planet, men or women?

There is a difference in gender ratio, but not very big. There are more men than women: for 3,983,671,988 (50.5%) representatives of the stronger sex there are 3,911,341,759 (49.5%) girls. In numbers, this figure is approximately 72 million.

Average age

Life expectancy also plays a very important role. In most developed countries, the rate has risen from 65 years in the late 1990s to 75 years today. This is evidenced by data from world statistics Worldometers.

Russia ranks 129th in this ranking: men live approximately 59 years, women - 73 years. In some countries, such as Andorra or France, the average duration is 83 and 81 years, respectively.

If the world's population does not begin to get younger, then some countries will face a large loss of citizens. Photo: unsplash.com

Level of education

An adult is anyone over 15 years of age. According to analysts, out of almost 4.8 billion adults, 86% of people can read and write in their native and foreign languages. Whether it is a lot or a little is a moot point.

Men receive education much more often than women (89.96% versus 82.65%).

By density

The world's population density is calculated using the total land area on the planet, which is more than 136 million square kilometers in size. The surface of the globe is larger, but a significant part of it (more than 70 percent) is occupied by the oceans.

Therefore, to calculate the density of earthly society, the sum of the areas of all state areas is used (clearly within their borders). It is assumed that at the beginning of 2021 the number of people on the globe will be more than 7.8 billion people. The density is 57.7 human units per square kilometer.

But this is a relative indicator. The sizes of powers differ significantly from each other. Also, their population sizes vary greatly. For example, Russia is the largest power in terms of area, but in terms of the number of inhabitants it ranks 9th. This means the country is not densely populated. The population is influenced by the following factors: distance from the sea, the height of the area and its relief, climatic features and the recency of the years of development of the territories.

An increase in numbers automatically affects an increase in density. To feel how rapidly the indicators are growing, you can look back to the year 50. Then the density was 18 people per square kilometer.

The ranking of countries for 2021 in descending order with the highest and lowest density is presented in the table.

Special territories and various administrative regions, as well as republics, are also listed here. That is, not only large states are taken into account, but also dependent territories and small independent entities. Simultaneous compilation of information on all objects into one table is difficult, since the population census is carried out at different times.

If you do not take into account small territories, the list of the most densely populated major powers (by number of people per square kilometer) includes Bangladesh, Palestine, South. Korea, Lebanon, Rwanda, Puerto Rico, Netherlands, Burundi and India.

Interesting Facts

We suggest you familiarize yourself with interesting information that you might not know:

1. Demographers together with the UN suggest that by 2100 there will be 11 billion people on our planet. Ecologists, based on their experiments and observations, assure that this is the maximum number of people that the Earth can “tolerate” on itself. An increase in population will have a negative impact on the climate: mineral resources are already declining, and there is less fresh water;
2. the “youngest” state on the planet is Niger. There, half the population is young people under 23;
3. Most people of retirement age live in Monaco;
4. over all the years of the Earth’s existence, about 100 billion people lived on its surface;
5. the migration level over the past 5 years has decreased from 4.5 million to 3.2 million;
6. Mongolia has the lowest population density: per 1 sq. km there are 2.1 Mongols. Despite the fact that the country's area is 1.5 million km.

By area

The areas of states are constant data, with the exception of individual situations that occur very rarely on the world stage (such as the annexation of Crimea to Russia and, due to this, an increase in its previous area). Therefore, a rating has been built for this parameter a long time ago.

Unfortunately, it can be noted that not all of the territorially large countries participating in the rating are distinguished by the highest indicators in other categories. The 10 largest countries are listed in the table below in descending order.

Along with this information, one can also distribute the palm to the powers according to some other specific criteria. Top places:

• Russia ranks first in terms of area in Europe and Asia (China is in 2nd place).
• Canada is the largest country in North America.
• Australia is in first place in Oceania.
• Algeria is ranked 1st in Africa.

Interesting fact! In the American state of Hawaii, there is a large and periodically erupting Kilauea Volcano. One eruption can last up to several months. Magma flows toward the water and, as it cools, constantly pushes the shoreline back. Thanks to this, the mileage of land is constantly increasing. So, thanks to the prolonged eruption in 2021, the territory of the United States has increased here by more than two thousand square kilometers.

Are we facing overpopulation or extinction?

The world's population is slowing down . If 60 years ago the annual growth was 1.84%, now it has dropped to 1.23%. The reasons are not global catastrophes. And the fact is that more and more adults prefer to devote themselves to careers, travel, and entertainment. And only then do they want to have children. Because of this, the average age increases from 30 years to 37-40. Of course, improving living conditions, medicine and the entire social component also plays a role.

But the slowdown does not mean a total reduction. Scientists believe that a demographic explosion may occur in third world countries, which will increase the number of people by 2.5 billion. Indeed, in those countries where the birth rate was minimal (for example, Africa), it begins to grow. And where overpopulation was observed (Europe, USA, Russia), the situation is the other way around.

So there will definitely not be fewer of us. But overpopulation is a very real problem.

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List of top 100

The 100 most populated countries in the world according to the 2021 version, with a high increase in citizens and different levels of consumption, is a thematic rating. This grouping of countries by number does not coincide with their distribution by country and total area.

The following nominations are highlighted: 1st place by population is given to China, by area - by Russia, by population density - by Monaco, by length of coastline - by Canada. Let's consider a complete list of all states on planet Earth.