World population increased 75 million in 2023

Data released by the US Census Bureau on Thursday said the world population grew by 75 million people over the past year. On New Year's Day it will stand at more than 8 billion people.

The projected world population on January 1, 2024 is 8,019,876,189, up by 75,162,541 (0.95%) from New Year's Day 2023, DW reports.

At the beginning of 2024, 4.3 births and two deaths are expected worldwide every second, according to the Census Bureau. The US had a growth rate of 0.53%, just over half the worldwide average figure. It added 1.7 million people and will have a population on New Year's Day of 335.8 million people.

The slowest-growing decade currently was in the aftermath of the Great Depression in the 1930s, at 7.3%. If the current pace continues through the end of the 2020s, it could be the slowest-growing decade in US history, at less than 4%, William Frey, a demographer at The Brookings Institution told the AP news agency.

"Of course growth may tick up a bit as we leave the pandemic years. But it would still be difficult to get to 7.3%," he said. At the start of 2024, the United States is expected to experience one birth every nine seconds and one death every 9.5 seconds. But due to immigration, the population will not drop. Net international migration is expected to add one person to the US population every 28.3 seconds.

The Census Bureau estimates the world population hit 8 billion on September 26, 2023. However, according to United Nations Population Division estimates, this occurred on November 15, 2022.

The world population growth has been slowing down since the 1960s. It took 12 and a half years for the global population to go from 7 billion to 8 billion. But the Census Bureau says it will take 14.1 years for it to go from 8 billion to 9 billion, and 16.4 years to go from 9 billion to 10 billion, which may occur around 2055.

In November, 2022, the UN estimated the world population reached 8 billion people, 11 years after reaching the 7 billion milestone, with UN Secretary General António Guterres attributing population growth to "scientific breakthroughs and improvements in nutrition, public health and sanitation." However, the Census Bureau estimated the world population reached the 8 billion threshold on September 26, 2023, saying that discrepancies between its estimation and the UN's has to do with the lack of census counting and systems to accurately record births and deaths in some countries. With a slowing growth rate due to factors such as declining fertility rates and proportionally fewer young people, the Census Bureau predicts it will take just over 14 years for the world population to reach 9 billion, and another 16.4 years to reach 10 billion. The Covid-19 pandemic impacted population growth as well, with global life expectancy at birth falling to 71 years in 2021, and countries experiencing unequal recovery from the pandemic across the globe.

If the current population growth rate in the U.S. continues throughout the 2020s, this could be the slowest-growing decade in history, William Frey, a demographer at The Brookings Institution, told the Associated Press.