According to a report by the United Nations, the world population reached 8 billion on November 15, 2022. The milestone marks another massive increase in the world’s population since it reached 7 billion in 2011, just over a decade ago. 

“Baby 8 Billion” will likely be born in India, which contributed 23 million people to the global population this year, and is likely to be male based on India’s population demographics. This individual will likely see the beginning of the 23rd century.

To get a better grasp on the leadup, significance, and future of this number, The Wrangler reached out to an expert of our very own—Mr. Bradford (staff), who teaches AP Human Geography on campus. The course focuses on the locations, cultures, and movements of different groups of people. A significant unit is dedicated to population growth. 

According to Mr. Bradford, “advances in wealth, medicine, and agriculture” are main factors that contribute to population growth. Moving from primitive hunting/gathering societies into organized groups, these advances in technology improved the quality of life and kept more people alive—increasing population.

As Mr. Bradford explained, “people started to live longer, more people were living to child-bearing age and we started to duplicate as a population.” Exponential population growth occurred.

Mr. Bradford contributes much of current population growth to lesser-developed countries, since greater-developed countries (such as the US, much of Western Europe, and many others) have already moved past the early stages of population growth where the most increase typically occurs. “Currently, we see a lot of population growth happening in countries that we would consider to be lesser-developed, where they have a really young population…Those population cohorts grow to child-bearing ages,” Mr. Bradford said. “So places like Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.”