World Population Day

According to United Nations estimates, Earth is home to 7.8 billion people. China remains the world's most populated country at 1.44 billion, followed by India with 1.39 billion. On 1 January 2022, 2,107,180 people lived in Slovenia, representing 0.5% of European Union’s population of 447 million, which in turn represents less than 6% of the world's population.

The historical pattern of Earth’s population growth shows that over the last few decades the world’s population has increased by one billion every twelve years. The first billion was reached in 1804. 123 years later, in 1927, the population doubled to another billion. Population growth has increased significantly since then, reaching the third billion in 1960, which is an increase that happened over a period of 33 years. Fifteen years later, in 1975, four billion people were living on Earth. For every next billion, the population grew at approximately twelve year intervals, bringing the world’s population to five billion in 1987, to six billion in 1999, and to seven billion in 2011. According to United Nations projections, the next milestone, which is eight billion, could be reached in the next two years. Same projections predict that 35 years from now, in 2057, ten billion people will live on Earth.

It is estimated that population grows by 82 million people annually. Future population growth trends will vary across continents. The fastest growth will be observed in Africa. The population of Asia, which for decades accounted for more than half of the world's population, is estimated to be about the same as the population of Africa in 2100.

Future demographic picture in the EU as well as in Slovenia will predominantly be influenced by fewer births, higher average age of mothers at birth and longer life expectancy. According to Eurostat’s latest available data for 2020, the average number of live births per 1,000 persons was 9.1 in the EU and 8.9 in Slovenia, and the total birth rate per woman of childbearing age was 1.5 in the EU and 1.6 in Slovenia. In the same period, the average age of mothers at the birth of their first child was 29.5 years in the EU and 29 years in Slovenia. Eurostat data released this February show that the median age of the EU population has risen. At the beginning of 2021, half of the Union’s population was under 44.1 years of age, which is similar to median age of Slovenia’s population, which was 44.4 years observed in the same period. Between 2011 and 2021, the median age in Slovenia and the EU grew at a similar pace, which is 0.3 years on average.