- Data Points
World Population Expected to Reach 9.7 Billion by 2050
The United Nations released projections of global population growth over the coming century. In the year 2100, the world’s demographics will look very different from today’s.
People of the future will need to learn to love their neighbors. The latest predictions for population growth from the United Nations indicate the Earth will be more crowded than previously thought.
The global population is currently about 7.3 billion. The UN estimates that by 2050, that number will grow to 9.7 billion. By 2100, 11.2 billion people will have to cram together on the Earth’s surface.
These estimates outstrip last year’s projections by around 150 million people.
The biggest increase in population will happen in Africa, with Asia following in second.
There’s some wiggle room, though. The UN says there’s an 80 percent chance that the population could be as low as 9.4 or as high as 10 billion in 2050. The agency
