Earth has a human population of over 8 billion as of 2024, with an overall population density of 50 people per km² (130 per sq. mile). Nearly 60% of the world's population lives in Asia, with almost 2.8 billion in the countries of China and India combined. The percentage shares of China, India and rest of South Asia of the world population have remained at similar levels for the last few thousand years of recorded history.^[1][2] The world's literacy rate has increased dramatically in the last 40 years, from 66.7% in 1979 to 86.3% today.^[3] Lower literacy levels are mostly attributable to poverty.^{[citation needed]} Lower literacy rates are found mostly in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.^[4]

The world's population is predominantly urban and suburban,^[5] and there has been significant migration toward cities and urban centres. The urban population jumped from 29% in 1950 to 55.3% in 2018.^[6][7] Interpolating from the United Nations prediction that the world will be 51.3 percent urban by 2010, Ron Wimberley, Libby Morris and Gregory Fulkerson estimated 23 May 2007 would have been the first time the urban population was more populous than the rural population in history.^[8] India and China are the most populous countries,^[9] as the birth rate has consistently dropped in wealthy countries and until recently remained high in poorer countries. Tokyo is the largest urban agglomeration in the world.^[7]

As of 2021, the total fertility rate of the world is estimated at 2.32^[10] children per woman, which is slightly below the global average for the replacement fertility rate of approximately 2.33 (as of 2003),^[11] which would mean the world's population is declining. However, world population growth is unevenly distributed, with the total fertility rate ranging from one of the world's lowest 0.83 in Singapore, to the highest, 6.49 in Niger.^[12] The United Nations estimated an annual population increase of 1.14% for the year of 2000.^[13] The current world population growth is approximately 1.09%.^[7] People under 15 years of age made up over a quarter of the world population (25.18%), and people age 65 and over made up nearly ten percent (9.69%) in 2021.^[7]

The world population more than tripled during the 20th century from about 1.65 billion in 1900 to 5.97 billion in 1999.^[14][15][16] It reached the 2 billion mark in 1927, the 3 billion mark in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, and 5 billion in 1987.^[17] The overall population of the world is approximately 8 billion as of November 2022. Currently, population growth is fastest among low wealth, least developed countries.^[18] The UN projects a world population of 9.15 billion in 2050, a 32.7% increase from 6.89 billion in 2010.^[14]

Historical migration of human populations begins with the movement of Homo erectus out of Africa across Eurasia about a million years ago. Homo sapiens appear to have occupied all of Africa about 300,000 years ago, moved out of Africa 50,000 – 60,000 years ago, and had spread across Australia, Asia and Europe by 30,000 years BC. Migration to the Americas took place 20,000 to 15,000 years ago, and by 2,000 years ago, most of the Pacific Islands were colonized.

Until c. 10,000 years ago, humans lived as hunter-gatherers. They generally lived in small nomadic groups known as band societies. The advent of agriculture prompted the Neolithic Revolution, when access to food surplus led to the formation of permanent human settlements. About 6,000 years ago, the first proto-states developed in Mesopotamia, Egypt's Nile Valley and the Indus Valley. Early human settlements were dependent on proximity to water and, depending on the lifestyle, other natural resources used for subsistence. But humans have a great capacity for altering their habitats by means of technology.

Since 1800, the human population has increased from one billion^[19] to over eight billion.^[20] In 2004, some 2.5 billion out of 6.3 billion people (39.7%) lived in urban areas. In February 2008, the U.N. estimated that half the world's population would live in urban areas by the end of the year.^[21] Problems for humans living in cities include various forms of pollution and crime,^[22] especially in inner city and suburban slums. Both overall population numbers and the proportion residing in cities are expected to increase significantly in the coming decades.^[23]

Historical vital statistics

The following estimates of global trends in various demographic indicators from 1950 to 2021 are from UN DESA's World Population Prospects 2022. In July 2022, UN DESA published its 2022 World Population Prospects, a biennially-updated database where key demographic indicators are estimated and projected worldwide and on the country and regional level.^[26]

More information Year, World population (in thousands) ...

Year	World population (in thousands)	Population density per km2	Live births (in thousands)	Deaths (in thousands)	Growth (in thousands)	Population growth (in %)	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Total fertility rate (TFR)	Infant mortality (per 1000 births)	Life expectancy (in years)
1950	2 499 322	19.2	92 083	48 789	43 294	1.73	36.8	19.5	4.86	143.4	46.5
1951	2 543 130	19.5	92 837	48 515	44 322	1.74	36.5	19.1	4.83	141.3	47.1
1952	2 590 271	19.9	97 607	47 647	49 960	1.93	37.7	18.4	5.01	137.3	48.2
1953	2 640 279	20.2	97 556	47 499	50 057	1.90	36.9	18.0	4.94	134.5	48.8
1954	2 691 979	20.6	100 348	47 003	53 345	1.98	37.3	17.5	5.01	131.7	49.6
1955	2 746 072	21.1	101 807	46 966	54 841	2.00	37.1	17.1	5.01	128.8	50.1
1956	2 801 003	21.5	101 827	46 807	55 020	1.96	36.4	16.7	4.94	125.8	50.6
1957	2 857 867	21.9	105 978	47 269	58 709	2.05	37.1	16.5	5.08	123.7	50.9
1958	2 916 108	22.4	104 557	46 783	57 774	1.98	35.9	16.0	4.94	121.1	51.5
1959	2 970 292	22.8	101 922	51 327	50 595	1.70	34.3	17.3	4.74	129.6	49.3
1960	3 019 233	23.2	102 262	54 974	47 288	1.57	33.9	18.2	4.70	135.1	47.7
1961	3 068 371	23.5	100 990	50 003	50 987	1.66	32.9	16.3	4.57	124.2	50.4
1962	3 126 687	24.0	112 053	46 406	65 647	2.10	35.8	14.8	5.03	112.9	53.1
1963	3 195 779	24.5	119 819	47 280	72 539	2.27	37.5	14.8	5.32	110.1	53.6
1964	3 267 212	25.1	117 393	47 065	70 328	2.15	35.9	14.4	5.13	108.2	54.2
1965	3 337 112	25.6	117 932	48 460	69 472	2.08	35.3	14.5	5.08	108.4	53.9
1966	3 406 417	26.1	117 182	48 044	69 138	2.03	34.4	14.1	4.96	106.8	54.5
1967	3 475 448	26.7	116 840	47 915	68 925	1.98	33.6	13.8	4.86	105.0	54.9
1968	3 546 811	27.2	121 750	47 948	73 802	2.08	34.3	13.5	4.96	101.9	55.5
1969	3 620 655	27.8	122 123	48 235	73 888	2.04	33.7	13.3	4.87	100.2	55.8
1970	3 695 390	28.3	124 117	48 534	75 583	2.05	33.6	13.1	4.83	98.5	56.1
1971	3 770 163	28.9	123 647	49 684	73 963	1.96	32.8	13.2	4.68	97.7	55.9
1972	3 844 801	29.5	123 275	47 962	75 313	1.96	32.1	12.5	4.55	95.0	57.1
1973	3 920 252	30.1	123 269	47 680	75 589	1.93	31.4	12.2	4.42	93.4	57.6
1974	3 995 517	30.6	122 437	47 494	74 943	1.88	30.6	11.9	4.27	92.0	58.0
1975	4 069 437	31.2	120 491	47 593	72 898	1.79	29.6	11.7	4.08	90.7	58.3
1976	4 142 506	31.8	120 648	47 408	73 240	1.77	29.1	11.4	3.98	88.7	58.7
1977	4 215 772	32.3	120 040	46 746	73 294	1.74	28.5	11.1	3.85	86.9	59.4
1978	4 289 658	32.9	121 337	46 860	74 477	1.74	28.3	10.9	3.79	84.9	59.7
1979	4 365 583	33.5	124 288	46 914	77 294	1.77	28.5	10.7	3.78	82.6	60.2
1980	4 444 008	34.1	126 793	47 317	79 476	1.79	28.5	10.6	3.75	80.4	60.6
1981	4 524 628	34.7	129 153	47 388	81 765	1.81	28.5	10.5	3.72	78.3	61.0
1982	4 607 985	35.3	132 513	47 562	84 951	1.84	28.8	10.3	3.71	76.1	61.4
1983	4 691 884	36.0	130 983	48 134	82 849	1.77	27.9	10.3	3.58	75.7	61.6
1984	4 775 836	36.6	133 397	48 341	85 056	1.78	27.9	10.1	3.55	74.1	61.9
1985	4 861 731	37.3	135 420	48 685	86 735	1.78	27.9	10.0	3.52	72.4	62.2
1986	4 950 063	38.0	138 420	48 487	89 933	1.82	28.0	9.8	3.51	70.4	62.8
1987	5 040 984	38.7	140 545	48 634	91 911	1.82	27.9	9.6	3.48	68.3	63.2
1988	5 132 294	39.4	139 993	49 284	90 709	1.77	27.3	9.6	3.39	67.8	63.3
1989	5 223 704	40.1	141 177	49 064	92 113	1.76	27.0	9.4	3.35	65.9	63.8
1990	5 316 176	40.8	142 451	49 620	92 831	1.75	26.8	9.3	3.31	64.6	64.0
1991	5 406 246	41.5	137 392	50 082	87 310	1.62	25.4	9.3	3.13	64.6	64.1
1992	5 492 686	42.1	135 754	50 182	85 572	1.56	24.7	9.1	3.04	63.8	64.3
1993	5 577 434	42.8	134 693	50 769	83 924	1.51	24.2	9.1	2.98	62.6	64.4
1994	5 660 728	43.4	134 185	51 519	82 666	1.46	23.7	9.1	2.93	61.6	64.5
1995	5 743 219	44.0	133 673	51 355	82 318	1.43	23.3	8.9	2.88	60.6	64.9
1996	5 825 145	44.7	133 053	51 519	81 534	1.40	22.8	8.8	2.83	59.4	65.1
1997	5 906 481	45.3	132 598	51 459	81 139	1.37	22.5	8.7	2.79	58.1	65.5
1998	5 987 312	45.9	132 287	51 762	80 525	1.35	22.1	8.6	2.76	57.0	65.7
1999	6 067 758	46.5	132 364	51 997	80 367	1.33	21.8	8.6	2.73	55.1	66.1
2000	6 148 899	47.2	134 014	52 100	81 914	1.33	21.8	8.5	2.73	53.3	66.5
2001	6 230 747	47.8	133 878	52 095	81 783	1.31	21.5	8.4	2.70	51.8	66.8
2002	6 312 407	48.4	134 020	52 481	81 539	1.29	21.2	8.3	2.67	50.1	67.1
2003	6 393 898	49.0	134 302	52 858	81 444	1.27	21.0	8.3	2.65	48.3	67.5
2004	6 475 751	49.7	135 228	52 965	82 263	1.27	20.9	8.2	2.64	46.6	67.8
2005	6 558 176	50.3	135 800	53 213	82 587	1.26	20.7	8.1	2.62	44.9	68.2
2006	6 641 416	50.9	136 910	53 016	83 894	1.26	20.6	8.0	2.61	43.1	68.7
2007	6 725 949	51.6	138 563	53 392	85 171	1.27	20.6	7.9	2.61	41.4	69.1
2008	6 811 597	52.2	140 164	54 038	86 126	1.26	20.6	7.9	2.61	39.9	69.3
2009	6 898 306	52.9	141 201	53 910	87 291	1.27	20.5	7.8	2.61	38.4	69.8
2010	6 985 603	53.6	141 633	54 329	87 304	1.25	20.3	7.8	2.59	37.1	70.1
2011	7 073 125	54.2	142 135	54 394	87 741	1.24	20.1	7.7	2.57	35.8	70.5
2012	7 161 698	54.9	144 194	54 790	89 404	1.25	20.1	7.7	2.59	34.4	70.9
2013	7 250 593	55.6	143 422	55 034	88 388	1.22	19.8	7.6	2.56	33.5	71.2
2014	7 339 013	56.3	143 671	55 218	88 453	1.21	19.6	7.5	2.55	32.3	71.6
2015	7 426 598	57.0	142 608	55 893	86 715	1.17	19.2	7.5	2.52	31.5	71.8
2016	7 513 474	57.6	143 239	56 201	87 038	1.16	19.1	7.5	2.53	30.5	72.1
2017	7 599 822	58.3	142 624	56 966	85 658	1.13	18.8	7.5	2.50	29.6	72.3
2018	7 683 790	58.9	139 629	57 352	82 277	1.07	18.2	7.5	2.44	29.2	72.6
2019	7 764 951	59.5	137 984	57 939	80 045	1.03	17.8	7.5	2.41	28.7	72.8
2020	7 840 953	60.1	135 133	63 174	71 959	0.92	17.2	8.1	2.35	28.3	72.0
2021	7 909 295	60.7	133 975	69 248	64 727	0.82	16.9	8.8	2.32	27.9	71.0

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Notable events in World demography:

• 1958–1961 - Great Chinese Famine
• 1989 - Fall of the Berlin Wall, Revolutions of 1989
• 2020–2022 - COVID-19

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

The world has hundreds of major cities, mostly in coastal regions.

As of 2022^[update], the world had 159 metropolitan areas with a population of over 3,000,000 people each.^[30]

As of 2010^[update], about 3 billion people live in or around urban areas.^[7]

The following table shows the populations of the top thirteen conglomerations.

More information Rank, City ...

Rank	City	Population	Country	Statistical concept[31]	Area (km2)[lower-alpha 1]	Density (p/km2)
1	Tokyo	37,500,000	Japan	Metropolitan area[lower-alpha 2]	13,500	2,777.78
2	Shanghai	24,180,000	China	Urban agglomeration[lower-alpha 3]	3,920	6,168
3	New York City	23,600,000[32]	United States	Urban agglomeration	21,483[33]	1,098
4	Mexico City	22,460,000	Mexico	Metropolitan area (zona metropolitana)	7,815	2,490
5	Delhi	22,157,000	India	Urban agglomeration[lower-alpha 4]	33,578	659
6	São Paulo	22,048,504[34]	Brazil	Metropolitan Area	7,946.96	2,714.45
7	Moscow	21,534,777	Russia	Metropolitan area	26,000	770
8	Lagos	21,000,000	Nigeria	Metropolitan area	1,171	17,933
9	Cairo	20,901,000	Egypt	Metropolitan area	1,709[35]	10,400
10	Karachi	20,382,881[36]	Pakistan	Metropolitan area (megacity)	3,530	4,224
11	Mumbai	20,041,000	India	Urban agglomeration	1,097[lower-alpha 5]	18,268
12	Kolkata	15,552,000	India	Urban agglomeration	1,026[37]	15,158
13	Dhaka	14,648,000	Bangladesh	Metropolitan area (megacity)	1,600	9,155

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The world's population is over 8 billion^[38] and Earth's total surface area (including land and water) is 510 million square kilometres (197 million square miles).^[39] Therefore, the worldwide human population density is 8 billion ÷ 510 million km² (197 million sq mi) = 15.7 people/km² (41 people/sq mi). If only the Earth's land area of 150 million km² (58 million sq mi) is taken into account, then human population density increases to 53.3 people/km² (138 people/sq mi).^[40][41]

Several of the most densely populated territories in the world are city-states, microstates or dependencies.^[42][43] These territories share a relatively small area and a high urbanization level, with an economically specialized city population drawing also on rural resources outside the area, illustrating the difference between high population density and overpopulation.

The table below lists religions classified by philosophy; however, religious philosophy is not always the determining factor in local practice. Please note that this table includes heterodox movements as adherents to their larger philosophical category, although this may be disputed by others within that category. For example, Cao Đài is listed because it claims to be a separate category from Buddhism, while Hòa Hảo is not, even though they are similar new religious movements.

The population numbers below are computed by a combination of census reports, random surveys (in countries where religion data is not collected in census, for example United States or France), and self-reported attendance numbers, but results can vary widely depending on the way questions are phrased, the definitions of religion used and the bias of the agencies or organizations conducting the survey. Informal or unorganized religions are especially difficult to count. Some organizations may wildly inflate their numbers.

Since the late 19th century, the demographics of religion have changed a great deal. Some countries with a historically large Christian population have experienced a significant decline in the numbers of professed active Christians: see demographics of atheism. Symptoms of the decline in active participation in Christian religious life include declining recruitment for the priesthood and monastic life, as well as diminishing attendance at church. On the other hand, since the 19th century, large areas of sub-Saharan Africa have been converted to Christianity, and this area of the world has the highest population growth rate. In the realm of Western civilization, there has been an increase in the number of people who identify themselves as secular humanists. Despite the decline, Christianity remains the dominant religion in the Western world, where 70% of the population is Christian.^[69] In many countries, such as the People's Republic of China, communist governments have discouraged religion, making it difficult to count the actual number of believers. However, after the collapse of communism in numerous countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, religious life has been experiencing resurgence there, in the form of traditional Eastern Christianity.^[70] While, Islam however has gained considerably in the Soviet Unions former republics in Central Asia.

Following is some available data based on the work of the World Christian Encyclopedia:^[71]

Studies conducted by the Pew Research Center have found that, generally, poorer nations had a larger proportion of citizens who found religion to be very important than richer nations, with the exceptions of the United States^[76] and Kuwait.^[77]

The average age of marriage varies greatly from country to country and has varied through time. Women tend to marry earlier than men and currently varies from 17.6 for women in Niger, to 32.4 for women in Denmark while men range from 22.6 in Mozambique to 35.1 in Sweden.^[78]

In 2021, 13.3 million babies, or about 10 per cent of the total worldwide, were born to mothers under 20 years old.^[27]

According to the 2021 CIA World Factbook, around 25% of the world's population is below 15 years of age.^[79]

• 0–14 years: 25.2% (male 1,010,373,278/female 946,624,579)^[7]
• 15–64 years: 65.1% (male 2,562,946,384/female 2,498,562,457)^[7]
• 65 years and over: 9.7% (male 337,244,947/female 415,884,753) (2021 est.)^[7]
• Median Age – 31 years (male: 30.3 years, female: 31.8 years, 2021 est.)

According to a report by the Global Social Change Research Project, worldwide, the percent of the population age 0–14 declined from 34% in 1950 to 27% in 2010. The elderly population (60+) increased during the same period from 8% to 11%.^[80]

Globally, the growth rate of the human population has been declining since peaking in 1962 and 1963 at 2.20% per annum. In 2009, the estimated annual growth rate was 1.1%.^[82] The CIA World Factbook gives the world annual birthrate, mortality rate, and growth rate as 1.915%, 0.812%, and 1.092% respectively^[83] The last one hundred years have seen a rapid increase in population due to medical advances and massive increase in agricultural productivity^[84] made possible by the Green Revolution.^[85][86][87]

The actual annual growth in the number of humans fell from its peak of 88.0 million in 1989, to a low of 73.9 million in 2003, after which it rose again to 75.2 million in 2006. Since then, annual growth has declined. In 2009, the human population increased by 74.6 million, which is projected to fall steadily to about 41 million per annum in 2050, at which time the population will have increased to about 9.2 billion.^[82] Each region of the globe has seen great reductions in growth rate in recent decades, though growth rates remain above 2% in some countries of the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, and also in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.^[88]

Some countries experienced negative population growth, especially in Eastern Europe mainly due to low fertility rates, high death rates and emigration. In Southern Africa, growth is slowing due to the high number of HIV-related deaths. Some Western Europe countries might also encounter negative population growth.^[89] Japan's population began decreasing in 2005.^[90]

Population in the world increased from 1990 to 2008 with 1,423 billion and 27% growth. Measured by persons, the increase was highest in India (290 million) and China (192 million). Population growth was highest in Qatar (174%) and United Arab Emirates (140%).^[91]

In 2022 the world population reached the 8 billion. The latest projections by the United Nations suggest that the global population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100.^[27]

More than half of the projected increase in global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just eight countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines and Tanzania.^[27]

More information Rank, Country ...

Rank	Country	Population (thousands) 1990	Population (thousands) 2010	Population (thousands) 2023 [28]	Growth (%) 1990–2010
	World	5,306,425	6,895,889	8,035,118	30.0%
1	India	873,785	1,224,614	1,428,627	40.2%
2	China	1,145,195	1,341,335	1,425,671	17.1%
3	United States	253,339	310,384	331,002	22.5%
4	Indonesia	184,346	239,871	273,523	30.1%
5	Pakistan	111,845	173,593	220,892	55.2%
6	Brazil	149,650	194,946	212,559	30.3%
7	Nigeria	97,552	158,423	206,139	62.4%
8	Bangladesh	105,256	148,692	164,689	41.3%
9	Russia	148,244	142,958	145,934	−3.6%
10	Mexico	86,007	114,092	128,932	32.7%

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In 2021, most births worldwide occurred in two regions: sub-Saharan Africa (29 per cent of global births), the region with the highest fertility level, Central and Southern Asia (28 per cent of global births) and Eastern and South-Eastern Asia (18 per cent).^[92]

The 10 countries with the highest estimated number of births in 2021 according to the World Population Prospects 2022 of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.^[93]

More information Rank, Country ...

Rank	Country	Number of births (2021)
1	India	23,114,000
2	China	10,881,567
3	Nigeria	7,923,294
4	Pakistan	6,374,741
5	Indonesia	4,496,383
6	Democratic Republic of the Congo	4,034,953
7	Ethiopia	3,895,734
8	United States	3,722,822
9	Bangladesh	3,019,672
10	Brazil	2,760,958

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As of 2009, the average birth rate (unclear whether this is the weighted average rate per country [with each country getting a weight of 1], or the unweighted average of the entire world population) for the whole world is 19.95 per year per 1000 total population, a 0.48% decline from 2003's world birth rate of 20.43 per 1000 total population.

According to the CIA – The World Factbook, the country with the highest birth rate currently is Niger at 51.26 births per 1000 people. The country with the lowest birth rate is Japan at 7.64 births per 1000 people. Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China, is at 7.42 births per 1000 people. As compared to the 1950s, birth rate was at 36 births per 1000 in the 1950s,^[95] birth rate has declined by 16 births per 1000 people. In July 2011, the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced that the adolescent birth rate continues to decline.^[96]

Birth rates vary even within the same geographic areas. In Europe, as of July 2011, Ireland's birth rate is 16.5 percent, which is 3.5 percent higher than the next-ranked country, the UK. France has a birth rate of 12.8 per cent while Sweden is at 12.3 percent.^[97] In July 2011, the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced a 2.4% increase in live births in the UK in 2010 alone.^[98] This is the highest birth rate in the UK in 40 years.^[98] By contrast, the birth rate in Germany is only 8.3 per 1,000, which is so low that both the UK and France, which have significantly smaller populations, produced more births in 2010.^[99] Birth rates also vary within the same geographic area, based on different demographic groups. For example, in April 2011, the U.S. CDC announced that the birth rate for women over the age of 40 in the U.S. rose between 2007 and 2009, while it fell among every other age group during the same time span.^[100] In August 2011, Taiwan's government announced that its birth rate declined in the previous year, despite the fact that it implemented a host of approaches to encourage its citizens to have babies.^[101]

Birth rates ranging from 10 to 20 births per 1000 are considered low, while rates from 40 to 50 births per 1000 are considered high. There are problems associated with both an extremely high birth rate and an extremely low birth rate. High birth rates can cause stress on the government welfare and family programs to support a youthful population. Additional problems faced by a country with a high birth rate include educating a growing number of children, creating jobs for these children when they enter the workforce, and dealing with the environmental effects that a large population can produce. Low birth rates can put stress on the government to provide adequate senior welfare systems and also the stress on families to support the elders themselves. There will be less children or working age population to support the constantly growing aging population.

The ten countries with the highest and lowest crude birth rate, according to the 2018 and 2022 CIA World Factbook estimates, are:^[102]

More information Rank (2022), Country ...

Rank (2022) Country Highest birth rates (2022) (annual births/1000 persons) 1  Niger 47.08 2  Angola 41.80 3  Benin 41.15 4  Mali 41.07 5  Uganda 40.94 6  Chad 40.45 7  DRC 40.08 8  Somalia 37.98 9  South Sudan 37.69 10  Mozambique 37.47

Rank (2022) Country Lowest birth rates (2022) (annual births/1000 persons)[lower-alpha 9] 1  Saint Pierre and Miquelon 6.47 2  Monaco 6.66 3  Andorra 6.88 4  South Korea 6.92 5  Japan 6.95 6  Italy 6.95 7  Spain 7.13 8  Taiwan 7.39 9  Greece 7.61 10  Puerto Rico 7.87

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More information Rank (2018), Country ...

Rank (2018) Country Highest birth rates (2018) (annual births/1000 persons) 1  Angola 43.70 2  Niger 43.60 3  Mali 43.20 4  Chad 43.00 5  Uganda 42.40 6  Zambia 41.10 7  Burundi 40.90 8  Malawi 40.70 9  Somalia 39.30 10  Liberia 37.90

Rank (2018) Country Lowest birth rates (2018) (annual births/1000 persons)[lower-alpha 10] 1  Monaco 6.50 2  Andorra 7.30 3  Japan 7.50 4  Portugal 8.20 5  Taiwan 8.20 6  Greece 8.30 7  South Korea 8.30 8  Bulgaria 8.50 9  Italy 8.50 10  Germany 8.60

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The ten countries with the highest and lowest crude death rate, according to the 2018 and 2022 CIA World Factbook estimates, are:^[103]

More information Rank (2022), Country ...

Rank (2022) Country Highest death rates (2022) (annual deaths/1000 persons) 1  Serbia 16.39 2  Romania 15.26 3  Lithuania 15.12 4  Latvia 14.65 5  Bulgaria 14.41 6  Ukraine 13.77 7  Russia 13.36 8  Estonia 13.10 9  Belarus 12.88 10  Croatia 12.88

Rank (2022) Country Lowest death rates (2022) (annual deaths/1000 persons) 1  Qatar 1.42 2  United Arab Emirates 1.56 3  Kuwait 2.25 4  Bahrain 2.82 5 Palestine, Gaza Strip 2.91 6  Oman 3.23 7 Palestine, West Bank 3.40 8  Saudi Arabia 3.42 9  Libya 3.45 10  Jordan 3.45

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More information Rank (2018), Country ...

Rank (2018) Country Highest death rates (2018) (annual deaths/1000 persons) 1  South Sudan 19.30 2  Lesotho 15.10 3  Lithuania 14.80 4  Bulgaria 14.50 5  Latvia 14.50 6  Ukraine 14.30 7  Serbia 13.60 8  Russia 13.40 9  Afghanistan 13.20 10  Belarus 13.20

Rank (2018) Country Lowest death rates (2018) (annual deaths/1000 persons)[lower-alpha 11] 1  Qatar 1.60 2  United Arab Emirates 1.70 3  Kuwait 2.30 4  Bahrain 2.80 5  Oman 3.30 6  Saudi Arabia 3.30 7  Jordan 3.40 8  Singapore 3.50 9  Brunei 3.70 10  Libya 3.70

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See list of countries by mortality rate for worldwide statistics.

According to the World Health Organization, the 10 leading causes of death in 2002 were:

1. 12.6% Ischemic heart disease
2. 9.7% Cerebrovascular disease
3. 6.8% Lower respiratory infections
4. 4.9% HIV/AIDS
5. 4.8% Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
6. 3.2% Diarrhoeal diseases
7. 2.7% Tuberculosis
8. 2.2% Trachea/bronchus/lung cancers
9. 2.2% Malaria
10. 2.1% Road traffic accidents

Causes of death vary greatly between first and third world countries.

According to Jean Ziegler (the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food for 2000 to March 2008), mortality due to malnutrition accounted for 58% of the total mortality in 2006: "In the world, approximately 62 millions people, all causes of death combined, die each year. In 2006, more than 36 millions died of hunger or diseases due to deficiencies in micronutrients".^[105]

Of the roughly 150,000 people who died each day across the globe, about two-thirds—100,000 per day—died of age-related causes in 2001, according to an article which counts all deaths "due to causes that kill hardly anyone under the age of 40" as age-related.^{[106][better source needed]} In industrialized nations, the proportion was even higher according to that article, reaching 90%.^[106]

The Total fertility rate is the average number of children born per mother. In 2021, fertility levels high were found in sub-Saharan Africa (4.6 births per woman), Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand (3.1), Northern Africa and Western Asia (2.8), and Central and Southern Asia (2.3).^[27]

There is an inverse correlation between income and fertility, wherein developed countries usually have a much lower fertility rate. Various fertility factors may be involved, such as education and urbanization. Mortality rates are low, birth control is understood and easily accessible, and costs are often deemed very high because of education, clothing, feeding, and social amenities. With wealth, contraception becomes affordable. However, in countries like Iran where contraception was made artificially affordable before the economy accelerated, birth rate also rapidly declined. Further, longer periods of time spent getting higher education often mean women have children later in life.^[107] Female labor participation rate also has substantial negative impact on fertility. However, this effect is neutralized among Nordic or liberalist countries.^{[108][further explanation needed]}

In undeveloped countries on the other hand, families desire children for their labour and as caregivers for their parents in old age. Fertility rates are also higher due to the lack of access to contraceptives, generally lower levels of female education, patriarchal culture and lower rates of female employment in industry.

Total fertility rates by region, 2010–2015

Total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman.

The average number of hospital beds per 1,000 population is 2.94. It is highest in Switzerland (18.3) and lowest in Mexico (1.1)^[111]

96% of the urban population has access to improved drinking water, while only 78% of rural inhabitants have improved drinking water. A total average of 87% of urban and rural have access to improved drinking water.

4% of the urban population does not have access to improved drinking water, leaving 22% of rural people without improved drinking water with a total world population of 13% not having access to drinking water.

76% of the urban population has access to sanitation facilities, while only 45% of the rural population has access. A total world average of 39% do not have access to sanitation facilities.

As of 2009, there are an estimated 33.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS, which is approximately 0.8% of the world population, and there have been an estimated 1.8 million deaths attributed to HIV/AIDS.

As of 2010, 925 million people are undernourished.^[112]

Life Expectancy at Birth:

• total population: 71.4 years
• male: 69.1 years
• female: 73.8 years (2015 est.)^[110]

The value for the entire world population is 1.02 males/female,^[114] with 1.07 at birth, 1.06 for those under 15, 1.02 for those between 15 and 64, and 0.78 for those over 65.

The Northern Mariana Islands have the highest female ratio with 0.77 males per female. Qatar has the highest male ratio, with 2.87 males/female. For the group aged below 15, Sierra Leone has the highest female ratio with 0.96 males/female, and Georgia and China are tied for the highest male ratio with 1.13 males/female (according to the 2006 CIA World Factbook).

The "First World" G7 members all have a gender ratio in the range of 0.95–0.98 for the total population, of 1.05–1.07 at birth, of 1.05–1.06 for the group below 15, of 1.00–1.04 for the group aged 15–64, and of 0.70–0.75 for those over 65.

Countries on the Arabian Peninsula tend to have a "natural" ratio of about 1.05 at birth but a very high ratio of males for those over 65 (Saudi Arabia 1.13, United Arab Emirates 2.73, Qatar 2.84), indicating either an above-average mortality rate for females or a below-average mortality for males, or, more likely in this case, a large population of aging male guest workers. Conversely, countries of Eastern Europe (the Baltic states, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia) tend to have a "normal" ratio at birth but a very low ratio of males among those over 65 (Russia 0.46, Latvia 0.48, Ukraine 0.52); similarly, Armenia has a far above average male ratio at birth (1.17), and a below-average male ratio above 65 (0.67). This effect may be caused by emigration and higher male mortality as result of higher post-Soviet era deaths; it may also be related to the enormous (by western standards) rate of alcoholism in the former Soviet states. Another possible contributory factor is an aging population, with a higher than normal proportion of relatively elderly people: we recall that due to higher differential mortality rates the ratio of males to females reduces for each year of age.

8.7% (2010 est.) 8.2% (2009 est.) note: 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%–12% unemployment (2007 est.)

Worldwide, English is used widely as a lingua franca and can be seen to be the dominant language at this time. The world's largest language by native speakers is Mandarin Chinese which is a first language of around 960 million people, or 12.44% of the population, predominantly in Greater China. Spanish is spoken by around 330 to 400 million people, predominantly in the Americas and Spain. Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu) is spoken by about 370 to 420 million speakers, mostly in India and Pakistan.

Arabic is spoken by around 350 million people predomimantly in Arab world. Bengali is spoken by around 250 million people worldwide, predominantly in Bangladesh and India. Portuguese is spoken by about 230 million speakers in Portugal, Brazil, East Timor, and Southern Africa.

There are numerous other languages, grouped into nine major families:

1. Indo-European languages 46% (Europe, Western Asia, South Asia, North Asia, North America, South America, and Oceania)
2. Sino-Tibetan languages 21% (East Asia, Mainland Southeast Asia, and South Asia)
3. Niger–Congo languages 6.4% (Sub-Saharan Africa)
4. Afroasiatic languages 6.0% (North Africa to Horn of Africa, and Western Asia)
5. Austronesian languages 5.9% (Oceania, Madagascar, and Maritime Southeast Asia)
6. Dravidian languages 3.7% (South Asia)
7. Altaic languages (controversial combination of Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic families) 2.3% (Central Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and Anatolia)^{[lower-alpha 12]}
8. Austroasiatic languages 1.7% (Mainland Southeast Asia)
9. Kra–Dai languages 1.3% (Southeast Asia)

There are also hundreds of non-verbal sign languages.

Total population: 83.7% over the age of 15 can read and write, 88.3% male and 79.2% female^{[citation needed]} note: over two-thirds of the world's 793 million illiterate adults are found in only eight countries (Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Pakistan); of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women; extremely low literacy rates are concentrated in three regions, the Arab states, South and West Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, where around one-third of the men and half of all women are illiterate (2005–09 est.)^{[citation needed]}

As of 2008, the school life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) for a man or woman is 11 years.^{[citation needed]}