Therefore said He unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers into His harvest. Luke 10:2 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. John 4:35 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:20a Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15b For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 1 John 4:14 |
For most up-to-date estimate, see U.S. and World Population Clock, United States Census Bureau.
The United Nations (U.N.) Population Division estimates that in 1 AD, there were 300 million people in the world; in 1250, 400 million; in 1500, 500 million. According to UN estimates, the world population reached 1 billion in 1804; rose to 2 billion 123 years later, in 1927; to 3 billion 33 years after that, in 1960; to 4 billion in 1975; to 5 billion in 1987; to 6 billion in 1999; and to 7 billion in 2011.2
The UN put the world population in mid-2023 at about 8.05 billion. It projects that the population will reach 9 billion in 2037 and 10 billion in 2058.2
Between 2023 and 2050, eight countries are expected to account for more than half the increase in the world population: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Tanzania. Almost all increases in population under age 65 will occur in low-income and lower-middle-income countries. In high-income and upper-middle-income countries, growth will be in the population age 65 and older (10% in 2023).2
"To give a point of reference for the magnitude of one billion, it would require forty thousand trips around the world to equal one billion miles."4
| Asia | 4,699,843,209 |
| Africa | 1,446,531,252 |
| Europe (incl. Russia) | 748,613,648 |
| Latin America* | 661,046,777 |
| North America** | 378,317,402 |
| Oceania (incl. Australia) | 44,909,722 |
| Antarctica | no indigenous inhabitants |
| *Includes South America, Central America and the Caribbean. **Includes the United States and Canada. Note: Asia is easily the most-populous continent with about 60% of the world's population (China and India together account for over 35%); Africa comes in second with over 15% of the earth's populace, Europe has about 10%, North America 8%, South America almost 6%, and Oceania less than 1%; |
|
| Birth Rate: | Death Rate: |
| 18 births/1,000 population | 7.7 deaths/1,000 population |
| 135 million births each year | 56.8 million people die each year |
| 368,600 births each day | 155,500 people die each day |
| 15,360 births each hour | 6480 people die each hour |
| 259 births each minute | 108 people die each minute |
| 4.3 births each second | 1.8 people die each second |
| 0-14 years: 24.7% (male 1,013,862,872/female 954,310,632) |
| 15-64 years: 65.2% (male 2,632,261,828/female 2,569,677,967) |
| 65 years and over: 10.1% (male 359,529,609/female 448,106,332) |
There are approximately 228 inhabited countries and territories in the world. China is the most populous nation with 1/5 of the world's people. About half the world's people live in the first six largest countries listed below.
| China | 1,413,140,000 |
| India | 1,339,920,000 |
| United States | 339,670,000 |
| Indonesia | 279,480,000 |
| Pakistan | 247,650,000 |
| Nigeria | 230,840,000 |
| Brazil | 218,690,000 |
| Bangladesh | 167.180,000 |
| Russia | 141,700,000 |
| Mexico | 129,880,000 |
| Urban Area | Population* |
|---|---|
| 1. Tokyo-Yokohama, Japan | 37,785,000 |
| 2. Jakarta, Indonesia | 35,386,000 |
| 3. Delhi, DL-UP-HR, India | 31,190,000 |
| 4. Guangzhou-Foshan, China | 27,119,000 |
| 5. Mumbai (Bombay), India | 25,189,000 |
| 6. Manila, Philippines | 24,156,000 |
| 7. Shanghai, China | 24,042,000 |
| 8. Seoul-Incheon, South Korea | 23,225,000 |
| 9. Cairo, Egypt | 22,679,000 |
| 10. Mexico City, Mexico | 21,905,000 |
| 11. Kolkata, India | 21,747,000 |
| 12. São Paulo, Brazil | 21,486,000 |
| 13. New York, NY-NJ-CT, U.S. | 21,396,000 |
| 14. Karachi, Pakistan | 20,249,000 |
| 15. Dhaka, Bangladesh | 19,134,000 |
| 16. Bangkok, Thailand | 18,884,000 |
| 17. Beijing, BJ-HEB, China | 18,883,000 |
| 18. Moscow, Russia | 17,878,000 |
| 19. Shenzhen, China | 17,778,000 |
| 20. Buenos Aires, Argentina | 15,748,000 |
Note: Population figures for the world's largest cities differ from one
statistical source to another because of the different concepts used (i.e.
urban area, urban agglomerations, metropolitan areas, etc.)
| Country | Population 0-14 Years of Age (%) |
|---|---|
| Afghanistan | 40% |
| Angola | 47 |
| Benin | 45 |
| Burkina Faso | 42 |
| Burundi | 43 |
| Cameroon | 42 |
| Chad | 46 |
| Congo, Democratic Republic of the | 46 |
| Congo, Republic of the | 40 |
| Gaza Strip | 40 |
| Guinea | 41 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 43 |
| Liberia | 43 |
| Mali | 47 |
| Mozambique | 45 |
| Niger | 50 |
| Nigeria | 41 |
| Senegal | 41 |
| Sierra Leone | 41 |
| Somalia | 42 |
| South Sudan | 42 |
| Sudan | 40 |
| Tanzania | 42 |
| Uganda | 47 |
| Zambia | 42 |
Note: The age structure of a population affects a nation's key socioeconomic issues. Countries with young populations (high percentage under age 15) need to invest more in schools, while countries with older populations (high percentage ages 65 and over) need to invest more in the health sector.
| Country | Life Expectancy (yrs.) |
|---|---|
| Afghanistan | 54.1 yrs. |
| Central African Republic | 56 |
| Chad | 59.6 |
| Lesotho | 59.9 |
| Mozambique | 57.7 |
| Sierra Leone | 59.1 |
| Somalia | 56.1 |
| South Sudan | 59.7 |
| Rank | Country | Muslim Population | % of Country's Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pakistan | 230,135,000 | 96.7% |
| 2 | Indonesia | 226,505,000 | 79.6 |
| 3 | India | 215,654,000 | 15.1 |
| 4 | Bangladesh | 151,843,000 | 88.8 |
| 5 | Nigeria | 106,673,000 | 46.8 |
| 6 | Egypt | 99,291,000 | 90.4 |
| 7 | Iran | 86,575,000 | 98.5 |
| 8 | Turkey | 84,833,000 | 98.3 |
| 9 | Algeria | 45,878,000 | 98.2 |
| 10 | Sudan | 44,552,000 | 92.4 |
| 11 | Ethiopia | 43,345,000 | 34.2 |
| 12 | Iraq | 43,176,000 | 97.7 |
| 13 | Afghanistan | 42,555,000 | 99.9 |
| 14 | Morocco | 38,485,000 | 99.7 |
| 15 | Uzbekistan | 33,912,000 | 96.3 |
| 16 | Saudi Arabia | 33,227,000 | 90.3 |
| 17 | Yemen | 32,224,000 | 99.2 |
| 18 | Niger | 27,146,000 | 96.7 |
| 19 | China | 26,345,000 | 1.8 |
| 20 | Tanzania | 21,824,000 | 32.6 |
| 21 | Syria | 20,960,000 | 95.6 |
| 22 | Mali | 20,316,000 | 89.3 |
| 23 | Malaysia | 18,969,000 | 55.8 |
| 24 | Russia | 18,566,000 | 12.8 |
| 25 | Somalia | 17,827,000 | 99.9 |
| Country | % of Muslims |
|---|---|
| Afghanistan | 99.7% (predominantly Sunni) |
| Albania | 57 |
| Algeria | 99 (official; predominantly Sunni) |
| Azerbaijan | 97 (predominantly Shia) |
| Bahrain | 74 |
| Bangladesh | 88 |
| Brunei | 82 (official) |
| Burkina Faso | 64 |
| Comoros | 98 |
| Djibouti | 94 |
| Egypt | 90 (predominantly Sunni) |
| Gambia, The | 96 |
| Gaza Strip | 98-99 (predominantly Sunni) |
| Guinea | 89 |
| Indonesia | 87 |
| Iran | 99.6 (official; predominantly Shia) |
| Iraq | 95-98 (official) |
| Jordan | 97 (official; predominantly Sunni) |
| Kazakhstan | 70 |
| Kosovo | 96 |
| Kuwait | 75 (official) |
| Kyrgyzstan | 90 (majority Sunni) |
| Lebanon | 68 |
| Libya | 97 (official; Sunni) |
| Malaysia** | 61 (official) |
| Maldives | Sunni Muslim (official) |
| Mali | 94 |
| Mauritania | 100 (official) |
| Morocco | 99 (official; Sunni) |
| Niger | 99 |
| Nigeria* | 54 |
| Oman | 86 |
| Pakistan | 97 (official) |
| Qatar | 65 |
| Saudi Arabia | 95-100 (official) |
| Senegal | 97 |
| Sierra Leone | 77 |
| Somalia | Sunni Muslim (official) |
| Sudan | Sunni Muslim |
| Syria | 87 (official) |
| Tajikistan | 98 (predominantly Sunni) |
| Tunisia | 99 (official, Sunni) |
| Turkey | 99.8 |
| Turkmenistan | 93 |
| United Arab Emirates | 76 (official) |
| Uzbekistan | 88 (mostly Sunni) |
| West Bank | 80-85 (predominantly Sunni) |
| Yemen | 99 (official) |
*5th Largest Muslim Population in World; **23rd Largest Muslim Population in World.
| Country | % of Roman Catholics |
|---|---|
| Argentina | 63% |
| Aruba | 75 |
| Austria | 55 |
| Belgium | 57 |
| Bolivia | 65 |
| Brazil | 50 |
| Burundi | 59 |
| Chile | 60 |
| Colombia | 92 |
| Croatia | 86 |
| Ecuador | 69 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 88 |
| Gibraltar | 72 |
| Ireland | 69 |
| Italy | 81 |
| Liechtenstein | 73 |
| Lithuania | 74 |
| Luxembourg | 71 |
| Malta | 90 (official) |
| Mexico | 78 |
| Paraguay | 80 |
| Peru | 60 |
| Philippines | 79 |
| Poland | 85 |
| Portugal | 80 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 56 |
| Seychelles | 76 |
| Slovakia | 56 |
| Slovevnia | 58 |
| Spain | 58 |
| Timor-Leste | 98 |
| Venezuela | 96 |
| Christians | 2,611,683,000 | 32.3% |
| Roman Catholics | 1,272,535,000 | 15.7% |
| Protestants | 616,220,000 | 7.6% |
| Independents* | 415,559,000 | 5.1% |
| Orthodox | 298,687,000 | 3.7% |
| Muslims** | 2,036,194,000 | 25.1% |
| Hindus | 1,088,187,000 | 13.4% |
| Buddhists | 558,708,000 | 6.9% |
| Chinese folk-religionists | 486,005,000 | 6.0% |
| Sikhs | 29,054,000 | 0.4% |
| Jews | 15,058,000 | 0.2% |
*This term denotes members of Christian churches and networks that regard
themselves as post-denominationalist and neo-apostolic and thus independent
of historic, mainstream, organized, institutionalized, confessional, denominationalist
Christianity.
**Sunnis—1,815,571,000; Shiites—202,801,000.
1. There are 7,168 known living languages in the world (2023).
2. About 40% of the world's people speak one of the eight most common languages:
Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, English, Arabic, Hindi, Portuguese,
Bengali, Russian as their first language.
3. "Approximately 80% of the languages are spoken by less than 100,000
people; about 150 languages are spoken by less then 10 people; communities
that are isolated from each other in mountainous regions often develop multiple
languages; Papua New Guinea, for example, boasts about 840 separate languages." (2018)
4. Roughly 40% of languages are now endangered, often with fewer than 1,000 users remaining. Meanwhile, just 23 languages account for more than half the world's population.
4. Approximately 2,300 languages are spoken in Asia, 2,140 in Africa, 1,310
in the Pacific, 1,060 in the Americas, and 290 in Europe (2020).
5. "Asia has the most indigenous languages, closely followed by Africa. Combined, they account for nearly 2/3 of the world's languages."
Sources: The World Factbook (CIA); Ethnologue: Languages of the
World, 26th ed.; The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2024.
1. The
World Factbook (CIA).
2. The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2024, ©2023.
3. Demographia World Urban Areas. 19th edition. August,
2023.
4. Biblical Missions: History, Principles, Practice by
Roy F. Dearmore. Garland, Tex.: Rodgers Baptist Church, ©1997.
5. U.S. and World Population
Clock, United States Census Bureau.