2.10- Population Statistics and Terms
Big Population Statistics
- 7.9 billion people on Earth, 9 billion projected by 2037
- 1 birth every 7 seconds, 1 death every 13 seconds
- 90% of the world's population lives in Africa, Asia, and Latin America
- Most populous countries today: China 1.4 billon, India 1.38 billion, U.S. 331 million, Indonesia 274 million.
- By 2050, half the world's population will be in 9 countries and by 2027, India will be the world's most populous country
- 90% of the world's population lives north of the equator between 20°N and 60°N.
- Population growth reached its peak in the 1960's when it was 2% annually. Today its about 1.05%. Population growth is declining globally.
Worldometer Links to an external site. summarizes today's population statistics in a series of charts. Take a look and see what interesting information you uncover.
Population Terminology
Population Density: average number of people per square kilometer or mile. Bangladesh has a population density of 1,265 person per square kilometer. The U.S. has a population density of 36.
Rate of Natural Increase (RNI): The number is calculated by subtracting the number of deaths from the number of births in a given year. Migration does not count toward RNI. It is a measure of how quickly a country is growing. Countries with a positive RNI are expected to experience rapid growth. Those with a stable RNI are neither growing or shrinking. A negative RNI means a country is losing population. Niger has the world's highest RNI (3.78) and if that rate continues its population will double in 20 years. The lowest RNI is in Bulgaria at -2.79. The U.S. RNI is 0.3
Total Fertility Rate (TFR): The TFR is the average number of children born per woman if she were to live to the end of her child-bearing years and experience the exact age specific fertility rates through her lifetime. The global TNR for 2020 was 2.45 births per woman. Niger has the highest rate at 7.15, followed by Somalia at 6.12. Taiwan has the lowest TFR at 1.21 children per woman, closely followed by Moldova and Portugal with 1.23 and 1.24. The U.S. total fertility rate is 1.78 children per woman.
Population Under 15: This statistic is important because a high value here indicates that a country or region will have rapid population growth. The population over 65 is important as well because a larger percentage in this age group means slow growth and specific societal pressures. Africa has the highest under 15 population of any region with 41% with only 3% above 65. On the other end of the spectrum is Europe with 16% of its population under 15 and 18% above 65. In North America, 18% are under 15 and 16% are over 65.
Life Expectancy: Life expectancy is an important measure of population health. Average global life expectancy is 73.2 years. Hong Kong has the highest life expectancy at 85.29, followed by Japan (85.03), Macau (84.68) and Switzerland (84.25). The United States has a life expectancy of 79.11 and Canada 82.96. At the other end of the spectrum are the Central African Republic with 54.36 years, Chad (55.17), Lesotho (55.65) and Nigeria (55.75).
Child Mortality Under 5 per 1000 live births: This measures childhood survival. It reflects social, economic and environmental conditions in which children live. The highest child mortality rate in the world is Afghanistan at 110.6/1000 while the U.S. is 5.8. The lowest child mortality rate is in Monaco (1.8/1000) and Japan (2/1000).
Population Pyramids
Instructor's Video
Links to an external site.
A population pyramid is an efficient way to graphically show a country's population age and gender structure.
Observe how different these graphics are. The Democratic Republic of Congo is poised for rapid growth with its largest population clustered in the youngest age groups and its smallest population in the oldest. Compare that to Germany, where the pyramid is flipped and the largest population is in the higher age groups with the smallest in the youngest. This is an example of a population pyramid for a country experiencing negative growth.
