How Many People are in the World?

In 2022, the world population hit 8 billion.

But it didn’t happen overnight. In fact, it took until the early 1800s for humanity to reach just 1 billion.

Now, we’re adding another billion people every 12 to 15 years. How did we get here so quickly, and what does it mean for the future?

For most of human history, population growth was slow and steady. It took thousands of years of survival, innovation, and adaptation for the global population to hit that first billion mark.

Starting in the 19th century, everything changed.

Advances in medicine, agriculture, and public health sparked a population boom. People started living longer. Families got bigger. And the world got a lot more crowded, very fast.