These are the most populous nations on Earth
World Population Day draws attention to problems caused by the increasing number of people on Earth. Image: REUTERS
On 11 July 1987, the world population passed the five billion mark - since then the figure has risen steadily to 7.7 billion in 2018. According to the International Monetary Fund, the largest share of the world population lives in China with 18.7 percent, followed by India with 17.88 percent. With a population of 83 million, Germany also ranks among the top 20 most populous countries in the world. Last year, people in Germany accounted for 1.11 percent of the world's population. The U.S. is actually the world’s third most populous nation. 4.39 percent of the global population live here.
Since 1989, World Population Day has taken place on 11 July to draw attention to problems caused by the increasing number of people on this Earth. The UN expects the world’s population to grow to 10.9 billion by 2100.
Asia is by far the most populous continent on Earth. The United Nations estimates that the Asian population will peak at 5.27 billion in 2070. Europe and Latin America will reach their population peaks at 689 million and 765 million inhabitants, respectively, around the year 2060, according to the projection. African populations are expected to keep growing, albeit at a slower pace, beyond the current century, which is when their combined size could surpass that of Asian populations.
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
Stay up to date:
United States
Related topics:
The Agenda Weekly
A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.
More on Health and Healthcare SystemsSee all
Shyam Bishen
November 5, 2024