How many people have inhabited planet Earth?

Today, our planet has an estimated population of about 7 billion. But if we consider all human beings who have passed over the face of the earth since the emergence of Homo sapiens 50, 000 years ago, how many people would have lived in this world?

The people of the Population Reference Bureau decided to calculate how many people have already inhabited our planet, considering available data - and many estimates - on global population growth. This information was obtained by selecting population size at different periods (from antiquity to modern times) and then applying the probable birth rates for each period.

Important Considerations

The calculation is based on rough estimates, and getting to the total number of inhabitants is quite complicated. To begin with, it is not that simple to determine exactly when humans first appeared on Earth, as this issue, as you know, is still debated. However, since the size of the population in prehistory was quite limited compared to the present one, this issue is of limited importance.

Another complication is that there are only significant statistical records of the world's population for 2 or 3 centuries, and until the mid-18th century few governments conducted accurate censuses. Therefore, all seniority-related estimates were made based on records related to tax-paying groups or individuals enlisted in military service, for example. In this case, the margin of error may be much larger.

Estimated Total

More critical aspects taken into consideration were life expectancy and child mortality which, as you can imagine, also vary greatly throughout history. So, for the calculation, it has been estimated that life expectancy at birth probably varied by an average of about 10 years throughout most of human history, which means that about 40% of all unborn children did not live. more than 1 year.

Thus, considering a constant growth rate until modern times, the calculations performed by PRB staff indicated that approximately 108 billion people have been born since the emergence of humans. This means that the current population represents close to 6.5% of the world who has ever lived here on earth. And you, reader, expected that number to be higher? And as for the percentage, did you expect this total?