A global push to 7 billion people
The world is becoming a hungrier place - consuming more food, fuel and material resources - as its population bulges. But the increase in consumption is not even and not driven by the same factors. China and India are consuming more because their populations have vastly increased in the past 40 years. The United States, Japan and many countries in Europe are having much less population growth, but the people are using more resources. Meanwhile, many in South American and African countries have had relatively small population growth and much less increase in consumption. Read related article.
- Consumption
- By age
- Life span
- Future
- Data
1950
1980
2010
Projected
2040
2070
2100
Total population
0
100 million
200 million
300 million
0
100 million
200 million
300 million
NOTE: Data for ages 80-84, 85-89, 90-94, 95-99 and 100+ is not available until 1990.
The graying world
As the world population hits 7 billion this year and rises to more than 9 billion by 2050, an expanding portion will be 60 years or older. Declining fertility and longer life spans as a result of advances in the treatment of major diseases are leading to population aging.
A world of seven billion
The United Nations Population Division projects that the world's human population will reach 7 billion on Halloween.
Two other organizations that work with demographics predict slightly different dates for the birth of the 7 billionth person. The U.S. Population Reference Bureau says the event happened weeks ago. The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis says that the number may not reach 7 billion until as late as January 2013.
Population and consumption growth of the last 40 years
Population in Thousands (1,000s). Click any column header to sort.
| Country | Pop.1970 | Pop.2010 | Pop.Change | Pop.Change Pct. | ConsumptionPer Capita2009 | ConsumptionPer Capita Change 1970-2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | 553,874 | 1,224,614 | 670,740 | 121% | $459 | $292 |
| China | 814,623 | 1,341,335 | 526,712 | 65% | $812 | $737 |
| Indonesia | 118,362 | 239,871 | 121,509 | 103% | $625 | $502 |
| United States | 209,464 | 310,384 | 100,920 | 48% | $26,783 | $14,906 |
| Brazil | 96,078 | 194,946 | 98,868 | 103% | $2,984 | $1,816 |
| Bangladesh | 66,881 | 148,692 | 81,811 | 122% | $374 | -$52 |
| Mexico | 51,868 | 113,423 | 61,555 | 119% | $4,260 | $1,997 |
| Philippines | 35,451 | 93,261 | 57,809 | 163% | $942 | $407 |
| Thailand | 36,915 | 69,122 | 32,207 | 87% | $1,391 | $1,008 |
| Japan | 103,710 | 126,536 | 22,826 | 22% | $22,173 | $12,771 |
| South Africa | 22,502 | 50,133 | 27,631 | 123% | $2,382 | $844 |
| Kenya | 11,252 | 40,513 | 29,260 | 260% | $350 | $137 |
| Colombia | 21,330 | 46,295 | 24,965 | 117% | $2,066 | $902 |
| Algeria | 13,746 | 35,468 | 21,722 | 158% | $785 | $237 |
| Morocco | 15,310 | 31,951 | 16,641 | 109% | $1,056 | $551 |
| Malaysia | 10,909 | 28,401 | 17,492 | 160% | $2,626 | $1,962 |
| Peru | 13,187 | 29,077 | 15,889 | 120% | $2,019 | $327 |
| France | 50,763 | 62,787 | 12,024 | 24% | $13,717 | $7,100 |
| Canada | 21,717 | 34,017 | 12,300 | 57% | $15,658 | $8,268 |
| Spain | 33,792 | 46,077 | 12,285 | 36% | $9,190 | $4,959 |
| Madagascar | 6,549 | 20,714 | 14,165 | 216% | $192 | -$222 |
| Italy | 53,325 | 60,551 | 7,226 | 14% | $11,326 | $5,862 |
| Germany | 78,169 | 82,302 | 4,133 | 5% | $14,103 | $7,332 |
| United Kingdom | 55,645 | 62,036 | 6,390 | 11% | $18,354 | $11,027 |
| Guatemala | 5,448 | 14,389 | 8,941 | 164% | $1,587 | $525 |
| Ecuador | 5,972 | 14,465 | 8,492 | 142% | $1,133 | $472 |
| Chile | 9,578 | 17,114 | 7,536 | 79% | $4,324 | $2,622 |
| Senegal | 4,096 | 12,434 | 8,337 | 204% | $442 | $85 |
| Dominican Republic | 4,512 | 9,927 | 5,416 | 120% | $3,268 | $2,282 |
| Bolivia | 4,217 | 9,930 | 5,713 | 135% | $871 | $159 |
| Tunisia | 5,127 | 10,481 | 5,354 | 104% | $1,830 | $1,379 |
| Netherlands | 12,959 | 16,613 | 3,654 | 28% | $12,341 | $5,317 |
| Honduras | 2,688 | 7,601 | 4,912 | 183% | $1,005 | $361 |
| Paraguay | 2,483 | 6,455 | 3,972 | 160% | $1,090 | $463 |
| Nicaragua | 2,398 | 5,788 | 3,390 | 141% | $808 | -$222 |
| El Salvador | 3,736 | 6,193 | 2,457 | 66% | $2,315 | $921 |
| Greece | 8,793 | 11,359 | 2,566 | 29% | $10,947 | $6,906 |
| Costa Rica | 1,820 | 4,659 | 2,839 | 156% | $3,268 | $1,497 |
| Switzerland | 6,169 | 7,664 | 1,495 | 24% | $21,905 | $7,413 |
| New Zealand | 2,820 | 4,368 | 1,549 | 55% | $9,250 | $3,224 |
| Sweden | 8,043 | 9,380 | 1,337 | 17% | $15,391 | $6,149 |
| Portugal | 8,684 | 10,676 | 1,991 | 23% | $7,891 | $4,901 |
| Belgium | 9,625 | 10,712 | 1,087 | 11% | $12,668 | $6,621 |
| Norway | 3,877 | 4,883 | 1,006 | 26% | $20,096 | $12,211 |
| Ireland | 2,963 | 4,470 | 1,507 | 51% | $13,580 | $8,475 |
| Austria | 7,466 | 8,394 | 928 | 12% | $14,112 | $7,828 |
| Lesotho | 1,033 | 2,171 | 1,138 | 110% | $642 | $436 |
| Finland | 4,606 | 5,365 | 759 | 16% | $14,286 | $8,317 |
| Denmark | 4,929 | 5,550 | 621 | 13% | $15,636 | $6,232 |
| Uruguay | 2,809 | 3,369 | 560 | 20% | $6,180 | $2,690 |
| Gabon | 530 | 1,505 | 976 | 184% | $1,533 | $314 |
| Luxembourg | 339 | 507 | 168 | 50% | $20,238 | $11,446 |
| Iceland | 204 | 320 | 116 | 57% | $17,291 | $9,475 |
| Malta | 304 | 417 | 113 | 37% | $7,213 | $4,547 |
SOURCE: United Nations Population Division; World Bank; Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center.
GRAPHIC: Patterson Clark, Dan Keating, Grace Koerber and Bill Webster - The Washington Post. Updated Oct 27, 2011.
