The world population has increased, the eight billionth human being has arrived on November 15, 2022, marking the beginning of a new milestone for humanity.
The world population has doubled in just 48 years, from 4 to 8 billion. Human beings are not equally distributed across the planet, and countries come in all shapes and sizes.
World population breakdown
Population of Africa: As of 2022, Africa’s total population amounts to 1.4 billion people. Africa is home to the countries with the fastest growth rates; by 2050, the continent’s population is expected to increase to 2.5 billion.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and its largest economy.
Africa has by far the lowest median age of any of the other continents.
Population of Asia: Asia has 4.7 billion people in 2022, the most populous region in the world.
China and India have dominated the continent because of their massive populations. But in 2023 there will be a big change, India will overtake China to become the most populous country in the world. China has held the top spot for centuries, but because of the mismatch between countries’ growth rates, it was only a matter of time before this milestone was reached.
Population of Europe: The population of Europe in 2022 is 750 million people, more than twice the size of the United States.
Europe approached 30% of the total world population a century ago. Today that figure is less than 10%. And this is due to population growth in other regions of the world.
Russia is the largest country in Europe by population. The country’s land mass stretches across Asia, three-quarters of Russians live on the European side of the country.
The second largest country in Europe is Germany, followed by the United Kingdom, France and Italy.
Population of North America: The population of North America is 602 million as of 2022.
The United States dominates the continent, accounting for more than half of the total population. By global standards, the U.S. population is still growing modestly.
Canada has one of the highest population growth rates of the major developed economies thanks to internal migration.
The tenth most populous place is currently held by Mexico, but it will be knocked out of the top 10 by the fast-growing African nations.
Population of South America: 439 million is the population of South America in 2022. Brazil accounts for almost half of that total.
Colombia’s capital, Bogota sometime this decade will become the region’s fifth megacity (defined as a population of 10 billion or more).
Population of Oceania: The population of the Oceania region is 44 million people, only slightly more than the population of California.
Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea make up the majority of the population in this region.
When will the Earth’s population reach 9 billion?
The next global population milestone, nine billion, is likely to be reached in the 2030s.
It is expected that the Earth’s population will continue to grow until reaching a peak sometime in the 2080s, probably above the 10 billion mark.
The UN had already estimated that November 15, 2022 would be the date when the world population would officially reach 8 billion.
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