censuswall WLD · 2026 · ages 0–100
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World · UN World Population Prospects 2024

Every person on Earth, counted.

World population now

8,317,564,767

A projection read at this second, not a count: the UN's totals for 1 January 2026 and 2027, joined by a straight line. 95% range for 31 December 2026: 8.32–8.35 billion.

How old we are, where we live, how long we live, and how that is changing — for the world and every country, from the UN’s count and other public records.

Spin the globe Find your year

Median age, 2023: half the people are younger than this age.

  • under 20
  • 20–27
  • 27–34
  • 34–41
  • 41 and over

Turn the globe and click a country to open it. Eight more ways to colour it, and every city of a million, on the map →

Six ways to see a year · every figure from its producer, with its year

The world this year, so far

What the world’s people are doing this year — born, fed, powered, making, spending, warming the planet, building thinking machines, and dying — drawn as pictures, each tied back to the count.

People, this year so far

How to read this: each figure is the UN’s total for the whole of 2026, spread evenly over the year and read at this second; the bars share one scale, the babies born this year.

The 52 weeks of 2026: the filled ones have passed.
  • Babies born in 2026 so far98,742,311about 363,000 a day
  • People added to the world so far51,319,476births minus deaths: the world grows by the difference
  • People who die in the whole of 202663.6 millionabout 174,300 a day, on average. Deaths are shown at rest and never count up here.
UN WPP 2024, 2026
  • People added to cities in 2026 so far32,211,56845 of every 100 people live in a cityUN WUP 2025, 2027
  • People living outside the country they were born in303.4 million37 of every 1,000 peopleWorld Bank, 2024
  • People forced from home108.9 million59 of every 100 never left their own countryUNHCR, 2025

A day on Earth, for one person

How to read this: the cards divide a day of the world’s totals by the people alive; each strip is 100 squares, one for each of 100 people, filled for those it is true of.

Share out a day of the world’s food, water, power, mail and searches, and each of us gets:

What we make and spend

How to read this: the bars share out a year’s spending among everyone alive; the counters spread each producer’s newest yearly total evenly over this year.

In a year, for each person on Earth:

One scale for all four bars. Their years differ, and output is in 2015 prices: each is its producer’s newest figure.

Where it goes: what each person used in 2021, whoever paid

  • A home, with water, power and heating$1,397
  • Health care, whoever pays$1,144
  • Food and drink from shops and markets (not alcohol)$1,095
  • Getting around: cars, fuel, fares$752
  • School and learning, whoever pays$665
  • Fun: sport, culture, books, package holidays$527
  • Eating out and hotels$430
  • Clothes and shoes$280
  • Phones, internet and post$194
All together, with drink and tobacco, furniture and everything else ($1,662), people used $8,137 each in 2021, of the $12,793 a person the world produced that year. “Whoever paid” counts what families spent and what governments spent on people’s health and schooling; the health bar above is governments alone, in a later year. The World Bank measured 176 economies, home to 95 of every 100 people on Earth; figures are per person in those economies. US dollars at 2021’s exchange rates; one scale for these nine bars. World Bank, International Comparison Program 2021

What it costs the planet

How to read this: the bar fills as the year goes; the squares are drawn to scale; reserves are what is known today and are revised up, so no countdown is drawn.

  • Tonnes of carbon dioxide put into the air in 2026 so far29,534,728,767at 2024’s pace: 39.6 billion tonnes a year, about 4.8 tonnes for each personWorld Bank, 2024

more than 1,000,000 km² of healthy land worn out a year, about the size of Egypt. UNCCD, 2019

48,874 km² of forest lost a year, about the size of the Dominican Republic. World Bank, 2023

The sunlight reaching Earth is about 9,100 times all the energy people use. If the square is the sun’s, people use one cell of it (circled). NASA, 2025 Energy Institute, 2025

  • Hectares of forest lost in 2026 so far3,642,110what was cut or burned, less what grew backWorld Bank, 2023
  • MWh of energy used in 2026 so far124,200,913,242more than this; 86 of every 100 units from coal, oil and gasEnergy Institute, 2025
  • MWh of sunlight reaching Earth on an average day4,161,600,000,000at the top of the air; about half reaches the groundNASA, 2025
  • Barrels of crude oil pumped on an average day74,850,00058 years of known reserves at this rateOPEC, 2025
  • Cubic metres of natural gas produced in 2026 so far3,195,861,391,78149 years of known reserves at this rateOPEC, 2024
  • Tonnes of coal mined in 2026 so far6,781,369,863IEA, 2024
  • World temperature+1.01 °Cabove 1951–1980; carbon dioxide in the air: 427 parts per millionNASA GISTEMP, 2025 NOAA GML, 2025
  • Topsoil washed or blown away25–40 billion tonnes a yeara football pitch of soil every five secondsFAO soils, 2015
  • Pounds of toxic chemicals released by US industry in 2026 so far2,459,178,082the United States only: no one counts the worldUS EPA TRI, 2023

Thinking machines

How to read this: the 1,000 squares are all the electricity the world used in a year; the filled ones are the most AI data centres could use if they ran flat out all year.

AI data centres could draw 29.6 gigawatts. Run flat out for a year, that is 259 TWh: the electricity of about 68 million people, as many as live in the United Kingdom, and 8 of every 1,000 units the world used in 2024 (the filled squares). Stanford AI Index 2026, 2025 Ember, 2024

  • Invested in AI by companies in 2026 so far$433,486,027,397$70 for each person on Earth, at 2025’s paceStanford AI Index 2026, 2025
  • Notable AI models released in 202510764 had a maker in the United States, 35 in China (a model can have both)Epoch AI, 2025

Every notable AI model since 1950, who makes them, the money and the power →

How people die

How to read this: the 100 squares are every 100 deaths, coloured by cause; below, each producer’s newest yearly figure with its year. The rows overlap (a smoker’s cancer is in two), so they do not add up. In 2026 about 63.6 million people die, about 174,300 a day.

Of every 100 people who died in 2019, the last year before the pandemic:

  • 33 heart and blood vessels (heart attacks, strokes)
  • 17 cancers
  • 9 infections (TB, diarrhoea, HIV, malaria …)
  • 7 long illnesses of the lungs
  • 8 injuries (roads, falls, violence, self-harm)
  • 5 chest infections (pneumonia)
  • 4 dementia and other illnesses of the brain
  • 17 everything else
WHO Global Health Estimates, 2019

Thirteen ways into the count

What the count tells us

Every page here starts from the same count: every living person, by age and by country. Each of the sections below asks one question of it. Who is of working age. Who has moved. Who has power, or water, or years left. The answers are all the same people, counted again from a different side.

Try it

World · every single year of age

You are looking at every living human, sorted by age.

Year
2026
projection · medium
Population, mid-2026
8.30068 billion
95% range, 31 Dec: 8.32–8.35 bn
Median age
32.1
Aged 65+
10.6%
2023 | 2024 peak 2084

male female projection · one cell = 1,000,000 people

How to read this: one row for each age, newborns at the bottom; men on the left, women on the right.

Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries

Show the numbers — mid-2026, by single year of age
World population by single year of age, mid-2026
AgeMaleFemale
066,343,80063,247,100
165,881,40062,818,500
265,605,30062,504,800
365,463,10062,317,700
465,677,60062,495,200
566,130,90062,865,900
667,385,30063,880,200
768,717,10065,012,200
869,821,30065,997,100
970,881,70066,885,200
1070,968,30066,871,600
1170,961,60066,784,000
1271,100,00066,836,400
1371,332,90066,962,900
1470,962,20066,543,800
1570,032,70065,646,300
1669,610,80065,231,500
1769,051,50064,723,600
1868,108,60063,888,800
1967,066,20062,976,900
2066,136,60062,162,900
2165,401,20061,515,600
2264,722,20060,927,100
2364,098,20060,387,300
2463,675,00060,010,800
2563,538,80059,854,900
2662,899,30059,252,300
2762,018,40058,476,100
2861,678,20058,183,800
2961,507,70058,039,800
3061,418,00057,980,500
3161,246,80057,871,800
3261,020,20057,749,900
3360,995,40057,825,500
3461,251,20058,159,500
3562,576,00059,453,500
3663,089,90060,065,100
3761,947,60059,157,600
3861,266,30058,667,900
3960,428,20058,091,800
4058,848,90056,808,200
4157,256,60055,455,600
4255,765,80054,149,200
4355,106,20053,595,200
4454,152,70052,778,500
4552,471,60051,272,000
4651,001,90049,981,400
4749,283,40048,453,000
4847,831,30047,188,800
4947,125,70046,669,600
5046,669,80046,411,800
5146,428,20046,337,400
5246,395,20046,471,700
5346,045,00046,314,600
5445,564,30046,053,200
5545,198,80045,871,500
5644,344,50045,177,900
5743,136,20044,239,500
5841,292,50042,628,100
5939,655,70041,156,800
6039,181,90040,906,500
6138,535,90040,495,700
6238,111,90040,323,900
6336,368,10038,772,600
6432,171,10034,686,000
6529,402,40032,087,900
6628,452,60031,376,100
6727,874,80031,039,800
6827,704,20031,156,700
6926,522,50030,219,400
7025,069,30028,990,000
7123,861,60027,997,600
7222,198,00026,436,100
7320,816,30025,190,200
7419,248,20023,662,800
7517,633,50022,003,900
7616,203,70020,509,000
7714,549,20018,625,200
7813,171,30017,056,100
7911,776,80015,507,700
8010,038,30013,486,600
818,648,77011,854,700
827,747,46010,862,200
836,888,0009,976,700
846,090,9109,192,760
855,336,5808,394,960
864,565,3107,482,360
873,844,3906,548,080
883,217,9205,709,430
892,637,0004,904,190
902,109,9604,129,330
911,644,5003,393,750
921,249,8802,721,310
93935,5162,167,310
94685,9081,692,710
95491,9471,290,870
96340,460956,246
97226,440685,111
98146,390475,446
9991,589319,520
100+130,229541,704

WLD · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

Every person born since 1950 walks one diagonal

Each column is a year and each row an age; the denser the ink in a cell, the more people. A generation climbs the wall at 45°, one year of age per year of time, and thins as it goes. Select a cell to follow its generation.

WLD · 1950–2100 · total population

The peak, and how sure anyone is of it

The UN's medium projection has the world population peaking at about 10.29 billion around the start of 2084 — 95% range 9.51 to 11.11 billion. In 2084, for the first time in the projection, deaths (118.6 million) outnumber births (118.2 million).

The range is the finding. At the top of the 95% range the world is still growing in 2100, at 11.44 billion; at the bottom it is 9.02 billion and falling.

3 bn4 bn5 bn6 bn7 bn8 bn9 bn10 bnpeak 10.29 bn · 1 Jan 2084
95%: 9.51–11.11estimates | projections0 bn246810121950197520002025205020752100

estimate   projection, up to the bottom of the 95% range   80% range   95% range   medium projection. Each column is one year; the paper rules cut it into one-billion cells.

Show the numbers — population on 31 December, 1950–2100
World population on 31 December, 1950–2100
YearKindPopulation, 31 Dec80% range (bn)95% range (bn)
1950estimate2,514,761,693
1951estimate2,559,092,377
1952estimate2,609,080,302
1953estimate2,659,132,169
1954estimate2,712,657,551
1955estimate2,767,770,034
1956estimate2,823,049,954
1957estimate2,882,186,720
1958estimate2,940,312,621
1959estimate2,991,588,081
1960estimate3,039,353,708
1961estimate3,090,385,641
1962estimate3,156,362,989
1963estimate3,229,252,666
1964estimate3,299,722,013
1965estimate3,369,345,394
1966estimate3,438,736,856
1967estimate3,508,088,904
1968estimate3,582,285,598
1969estimate3,656,697,561
1970estimate3,732,670,026
1971estimate3,807,025,705
1972estimate3,882,809,654
1973estimate3,958,800,430
1974estimate4,034,031,762
1975estimate4,107,438,793
1976estimate4,181,053,962
1977estimate4,254,673,630
1978estimate4,329,521,373
1979estimate4,407,557,683
1980estimate4,487,654,790
1981estimate4,569,899,823
1982estimate4,655,447,019
1983estimate4,739,208,128
1984estimate4,825,142,910
1985estimate4,912,744,021
1986estimate5,003,401,655
1987estimate5,096,091,140
1988estimate5,187,893,944
1989estimate5,280,969,520
1990estimate5,374,636,700
1991estimate5,462,835,083
1992estimate5,549,144,549
1993estimate5,633,945,045
1994estimate5,717,157,466
1995estimate5,800,600,498
1996estimate5,883,510,969
1997estimate5,966,064,664
1998estimate6,048,068,715
1999estimate6,129,943,964
2000estimate6,213,462,023
2001estimate6,296,410,896
2002estimate6,379,049,788
2003estimate6,461,673,479
2004estimate6,545,082,065
2005estimate6,628,858,198
2006estimate6,714,045,833
2007estimate6,800,571,730
2008estimate6,888,343,594
2009estimate6,977,189,237
2010estimate7,066,275,059
2011estimate7,155,572,472
2012estimate7,246,832,497
2013estimate7,336,754,673
2014estimate7,426,477,815
2015estimate7,514,505,928
2016estimate7,602,603,123
2017estimate7,688,632,785
2018estimate7,771,172,776
2019estimate7,851,414,621
2020estimate7,922,587,963
2021estimate7,986,308,820
2022estimate8,056,505,564
2023estimate8,126,964,296
2024projection8,196,980,8498.193–8.2018.191–8.203
2025projection8,266,245,2918.259–8.2748.254–8.278
2026projection8,335,111,5008.323–8.3478.316–8.354
2027projection8,403,077,1898.387–8.4208.376–8.428
2028projection8,470,160,5848.449–8.4928.436–8.503
2029projection8,536,410,0628.510–8.5638.494–8.577
2030projection8,601,839,7608.570–8.6338.552–8.649
2031projection8,666,398,9078.630–8.7048.608–8.723
2032projection8,730,060,7178.687–8.7728.663–8.794
2033projection8,792,837,4458.745–8.8428.716–8.866
2034projection8,854,732,3728.800–8.9088.768–8.937
2035projection8,915,687,9908.854–8.9758.819–9.006
2036projection8,975,685,2398.907–9.0418.869–9.074
2037projection9,034,620,0098.960–9.1068.920–9.144
2038projection9,092,525,8439.012–9.1708.968–9.212
2039projection9,149,330,9179.063–9.2339.014–9.278
2040projection9,205,049,4889.111–9.2959.060–9.342
2041projection9,259,513,6629.158–9.3569.103–9.406
2042projection9,312,707,0799.203–9.4149.143–9.466
2043projection9,364,615,5499.246–9.4739.184–9.528
2044projection9,415,131,8389.289–9.5319.225–9.589
2045projection9,464,147,4989.331–9.5899.263–9.646
2046projection9,511,631,7109.371–9.6449.303–9.703
2047projection9,557,460,2459.409–9.6979.335–9.760
2048projection9,601,611,8419.446–9.7489.370–9.818
2049projection9,644,036,2169.480–9.7979.402–9.874
2050projection9,684,720,9589.510–9.8439.429–9.926
2051projection9,723,663,6499.542–9.8909.457–9.978
2052projection9,760,865,3819.571–9.9369.480–10.030
2053projection9,796,363,8479.596–9.9799.503–10.079
2054projection9,830,139,4719.619–10.0219.520–10.129
2055projection9,862,335,6709.642–10.0629.539–10.177
2056projection9,893,025,1149.664–10.1039.557–10.222
2057projection9,922,249,2729.682–10.1429.576–10.262
2058projection9,950,079,4869.701–10.1809.590–10.304
2059projection9,976,594,6799.718–10.2149.605–10.344
2060projection10,001,869,9059.733–10.2519.620–10.384
2061projection10,025,962,5219.746–10.2879.630–10.421
2062projection10,048,970,6789.758–10.3219.639–10.461
2063projection10,070,929,3929.771–10.3579.645–10.501
2064projection10,091,876,0819.782–10.3889.649–10.535
2065projection10,111,823,0419.790–10.4209.649–10.565
2066projection10,130,811,1749.800–10.4509.656–10.600
2067projection10,148,805,5479.806–10.4799.659–10.633
2068projection10,165,798,3349.807–10.5109.658–10.669
2069projection10,181,765,9359.812–10.5399.659–10.702
2070projection10,196,717,9839.817–10.5679.654–10.739
2071projection10,210,645,1549.818–10.5929.648–10.771
2072projection10,223,465,1849.816–10.6169.647–10.801
2073projection10,235,190,4649.816–10.6439.638–10.829
2074projection10,245,779,6479.820–10.6739.628–10.868
2075projection10,255,213,2169.817–10.6959.617–10.896
2076projection10,263,489,6489.815–10.7209.608–10.925
2077projection10,270,600,3979.809–10.7449.597–10.953
2078projection10,276,512,2489.803–10.7639.587–10.977
2079projection10,281,262,6989.795–10.7819.575–11.009
2080projection10,284,893,3599.786–10.8019.561–11.034
2081projection10,287,430,1119.772–10.8199.547–11.062
2082projection10,288,979,9899.760–10.8359.537–11.087
2083projection10,289,514,6589.745–10.8509.511–11.111
2084projection10,289,115,8309.730–10.8669.495–11.127
2085projection10,287,797,3689.717–10.8839.481–11.145
2086projection10,285,619,3519.702–10.8989.457–11.168
2087projection10,282,603,3969.690–10.9189.440–11.185
2088projection10,278,805,7499.672–10.9279.411–11.206
2089projection10,274,230,8109.653–10.9429.385–11.238
2090projection10,268,899,3319.634–10.9529.360–11.260
2091projection10,262,824,0969.612–10.9669.333–11.289
2092projection10,255,992,6559.594–10.9759.301–11.310
2093projection10,248,376,8629.572–10.9919.271–11.325
2094projection10,239,994,8129.546–10.9999.237–11.333
2095projection10,230,812,3899.522–11.0059.210–11.353
2096projection10,220,889,3589.496–11.0149.173–11.374
2097projection10,210,209,2639.471–11.0189.138–11.412
2098projection10,198,770,4619.445–11.0259.105–11.429
2099projection10,186,607,6709.421–11.0309.069–11.435
2100projection10,173,713,8339.390–11.0409.025–11.440

WLD · each billion

Every billion, and how long it took

Each billion from the 5th to the 8th took between 11.5 and 12.4 years. The projection stretches the next two to 15.2 and 23.5 years.

  1. 1 bnabout 1804before the annual series · UN DESA Policy Brief 140 / UN press
  2. 2 bnabout 1927before the annual series · UN press release SG/2061 (1999)
  3. 3 bn5 Mar 1960UN at the time: 1960
  4. 4 bn19 Jul 197414.4 yearsUN at the time: 1974
  5. 5 bn18 Dec 198612.4 yearsUN at the time: 11 Jul 1987 (Day of Five Billion)
  6. 6 bn1 Jun 199811.5 yearsUN at the time: 12 Oct 1999 (Day of Six Billion)
  7. 7 bn4 Apr 201011.8 yearsUN at the time: 31 Oct 2011 (Day of Seven Billion)
  8. 8 bn13 Mar 202211.9 yearsUN at the time: 15 Nov 2022 (Day of Eight Billion)
  9. 9 bn31 May 2037 (projected)15.2 yearsUN at the time: ~2037 (WPP 2022)
  10. 10 bn4 Dec 2060 (projected)23.5 yearsUN at the time: ~2058 (WPP 2022)

Dates move as the estimates are revised. The UN's current model places the 6 billionth person on 1 Jun 1998; at the time, the UN marked 12 Oct 1999 (Day of Six Billion).

WLD · births by the mother's age · 1950–2100

Who has the world's babies

Of every 100 babies born in the world in 2023, 10 had a mother under 20, 75 a mother aged 20 to 34 and 15 a mother aged 35 or older. In 1950 it was 12 under 20 and 18 aged 35 or older.

1950
12 · 70 · 18
2023
10 · 75 · 15
2050 · projected
7 · 75 · 18

The mother's age: under 20 20 to 34 35 or older projected

How to read this: shrink a year's babies to 100 and colour each one by the age of its mother — that is a block. Under it, the same three groups as numbers, starting with the youngest mothers.

Babies born, 2023
132,110,264
Average age when women have a baby
28.2 years
28.9 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19
39
90 in 1950
Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100
Babies born in the world by the mother's age
Mother's age19501975200020232050 projected2100 projected
10–14678,6371,113,7831,058,178347,244177,11241,206
15–1910,491,01416,364,99118,664,58712,150,8729,099,6554,015,006
20–2424,737,94937,650,74041,237,23634,622,08428,215,70617,301,181
25–2923,549,37931,290,76637,425,86537,224,67137,358,62832,213,447
30–3416,131,74518,372,61522,659,44227,837,09733,233,23432,997,019
35–3910,801,63210,812,82710,593,98414,586,44718,145,95417,810,662
40–444,748,6984,568,3333,449,5124,546,4465,520,3705,026,930
45–49660,333814,991635,586750,649766,290604,609
50–5424,54941,04934,09244,75438,23118,412
All babies91,823,936121,030,095135,758,482132,110,264132,555,180110,028,472

The UN's births for each year, split by the mother's age in the UN's own proportions.

Apparatus

Sources and method

Every figure on this page comes from the UN's World Population Prospects 2024: estimates for 1950–2023, projections from 2024. The last estimate — World population, mid-2023 — is 8,091,734,930.

Sources: UN WPP 2024 · Natural Earth · UN WUP 2025 · Maddison Project 2020 · Gapminder · UNHCR · NASA GISTEMP · World Bank · Wittgenstein Centre · FAOSTAT · Ember · NOAA GML · WHO fact sheets · UNAIDS · IARC GLOBOCAN · The Tobacco Atlas · SIPRI · World Bank (WHO, UIS, FAO) · OICA · IDC · Omdia · Newzoo · The Radicati Group · Google · WHO/UNICEF JMP · UNCCD · FAO soils · US EPA TRI · Energy Institute · OPEC · IEA · NASA · Epoch AI · Stanford AI Index 2026 · WHO Global Health Estimates. Every source, its licence and how to cite it →

Checked before it was drawn

Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries The source files were exported with scrambled names, so nothing here is read by filename. Before this page was built, 83 files were matched against a hash lock, 97 structures and 336 shape probes confirmed each file holds what it claims, and 73 published values were reproduced exactly. The pyramid's total for every year was checked against the UN's own world total.