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World population

On 1 January 2026, about 8.27 billion people are alive, by the UN projection. In 1950 there were 2.47 billion.

Growth was fastest in 1963, at 2.3% a year. In 2023 it was 0.9%.

In the UN medium projection, the world population peaks in 2084 at 10.3 billion.

For 2100 the UN gives a 95 percent prediction interval of 9.05 billion to 11.4 billion. A projection this far ahead is uncertain, and the interval shows how much.

World population, 1950 to 2100Projected from 202402B4B6B8B10B12B1950197520002025205020752100
2026 95% prediction interval: 8.3B–8.3B80% prediction interval: 8.3B–8.3B Medium projection: 8.3B
The 10 most populous countries, population on 1 July
RankCountry202620502100
1India1,476,625,5761,679,589,2591,505,251,761
2China1,412,914,0891,260,289,093633,368,113
3United States349,035,494380,846,910421,278,889
4Indonesia287,886,782320,712,949295,511,061
5Pakistan259,299,792371,863,793511,000,618
6Nigeria242,431,832359,185,556476,747,781
7Brazil213,562,666217,489,300163,364,064
8Bangladesh177,818,044214,709,097208,596,516
9Russia143,394,458136,132,775126,386,515
10Ethiopia138,902,185225,021,874367,289,596

Sources: World Population Prospects 2024, World Population Prospects 2024, probabilistic projections, UN DESA Population Division (CC BY 3.0 IGO).

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Years up to 2023 are UN estimates. Later years are projections, the medium variant unless said otherwise. Methodology