World population growth trend
Topic: World Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Migration · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "The World Population: Distribution, Density and Growth"
Meaning
The world population growth trend is the long-term pattern of how human numbers have grown. Human numbers grew more than 10 times in the last 500 years, and about 4 times in the 20th century alone. Growth sped up after about 1750. Farming and industrial revolutions, better food and transport, and later vaccines, sanitation, antibiotics and the Green Revolution made deaths fall long before births did. Today growth is fastest in Africa, while Europe and East Asia are shrinking.
Example
UN estimates put the world at 1 billion around 1804, 7 billion in 2011 and 8 billion on 15 November 2022. The step from 7 to 8 billion took only about 12 years.
Don't confuse with
- Population momentum: This explains why a young population keeps growing for decades even after fertility falls. The growth trend simply describes how numbers have changed over time.
Related concepts
- World population of 8 billion
- World Population Prospects
- State of World Population report
- Population momentum