The Overpopulation Project

TOP – Research and Outreach

Too many people consuming too much

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Total human population over time
Human population of the world in billions from 10000 BCE to 2000 CE. It shows exponential rise in world population that has taken place since the eighteenth century. Source: US Census Bureau
Human population of the world: estimates between 1950-2015, and medium variant projection with 95% prediction intervals between 2015-2100. Source: UN -World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision
United Nations latest population projections till 2100. The variants differ in fertility levels, while mortality held constant. Source of data: World Population Prospects: The 2019 Revision
Human population projections by the main geographical regions. Source: populationpyramid.net
World population change 1800-2100, the country size shows the share of the population. Source: metrocosm.com based on UN: World Population Prospects
Population growth of countries in annual %, in 2015. Source: populationpyramid.net
The current biomass of Earth’s land mammals. Source: Smith et al. 2015 – Megafauna in the Earth system; based on Vaclav Smil: “The Earth’s Biosphere – Evolution, Dynamics, and Change”
Density of human population. Source: populationpyramid.net
Total fertility rate (TFR, births per woman) represented by countries. (2015) Source: populationpyramid.net
environmental acts
The importance of having fewer children in climate change mitigation: a comparison of the emissions reductions from various individual actions. The height of the bar represents the mean of all studies identified in developed nations, while black lines indicate mean values for selected countries or regions. Source: Wynes and Nicholas (2017): “The climate mitigation gap: education and government recommendations miss the most effective individual actions”
LPI
The Change of the Global Living Planet Index over time. It shows that the size of vertebrate populations (mammal, bird, reptile, fish and amphibian populations) declined 58% since 1970: a frightening, 2% average annual decline. Source: WWF Living Planet Index, 2016

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Gallery of infographics – Learn more about overpopulation and environment
Women education and number of babies
Source: Barro-Lee Educational Attainment Dataset (2015): PRB Data Sheet 2015

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New State of the World Population report conceals family planning as UNFPA's most successful product

By Jan van Weeren and Jane O'Sullivan