As I see it, humanity needs to reduce its impact on the Earth urgently and there are three ways to achieve this: we can stop consuming so many resources, we can change our technology and we can reduce the growth of our population.
Sir David Attenborough, naturalist and broadcaster
In 2022 world population estimates reached 8 billion; that is 8 thousand million. Back in 1973, so only 50 years ago, the population was around 4 billion.
Between 1973 and 2022 the biggest absolute growth happened in India (more than 660 Million), followed by China (almost 475 Million), Pakistan (135 Million), Indonesia (122 Million) and the USA (107 Million). Nigeria, Brazil, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Mexico complete the top 10.
The highest growth rate is noted in United Arab Emirates (6.2%), Qatar (5.2%), Mayotte (4.3 %), Turks and Caicos (4%) and Western Sahara (4%).
The biggest decline in population has happened in Ukraine (2.8 Million), followed by Bulgaria (1.2 million), Georgia (1 million), Hungary (458,000) and Romania (408,000).
