What is the world's population now?

6.4647 billion

Between 1995 and 2000, the world population growth rate was 1.33%, with an additional population of 78 million every year. By the middle of the next century, the world’s population will be 73 to 10.7 billion, with a projected median of 8.9 billion in 2050. Statistics in mid-1998 show that the world's population is 590,000, of which 470,000 (80%) live in developing countries and nearly 120,000 (20%) live in developed countries; Asia accounts for 61%, accounting for 3.585 billion ; Africa has a population of 749 million, surpassing Europe's population (729 million) in the past two years; Latin America and the Caribbean has a population of approximately 504 million; North America has a population of 305 million. The population growth rate from 1995 to 2000 was 1.33%, which was significantly lower than the peak of 2.04% between 1965 and 1970, and further lower than the 1.46% between 1990 and 1995. The annual increase in population This has declined from the peak of 86 million between 1985 and 1990, and is expected to decrease to 64 million between 2015 and 2020, and to 30 million between 2045 and 2050. Since the world's population reached 1 billion in 1804, the growth of the world's total population has continued to accelerate: it took 123 years to increase to 2 billion (1927), 33 years to increase the population to 3 billion in 1960, and 14 It took 13 years to increase the world's population to 4 billion (1974) in 1987, and 12 years to reach 6 billion in 1999. Regarding population changes in the next century, his prediction is that the growth of the world's population is expected to slow down and will add another 1 billion in 14 years, 7 billion in 2013, 8 billion in 2028 (15 years), and 90 in 2054. billion (26 years).

Statistics from this year's "State of World Population Report" by the United Nations Population Fund show that the current total world population is 6.4647 billion, and the population growth rate is 1.2. Among them, the population of developed countries is 1.2113 billion, with a growth rate of 0.3; the population of developing countries is 5.2535 billion, with a growth rate of 1.4. The global average number of children per woman is 2.6.

On October 11, 2005, an American couple welcomed their sixteenth child, which was quite unusual in the United States.

While developed countries are distressed by a sharp decline in population, developing countries are worried about how to curb population growth. Different population pressures lead to different responses. Currently, the world's population growth rate is slowing down, while absolute population numbers are still rising. The growing population will continue to place a heavy burden on the planet in the coming decades.

United Nations: Global population growth is slowing

Statistics from this year's "State of World Population Report" by the United Nations Population Fund show that the current total world population is 6.4647 billion, and the population growth rate is 1.2 . Among them, the population of developed countries is 1.2113 billion, with a growth rate of 0.3; the population of developing countries is 5.2535 billion, with a growth rate of 1.4. The global average number of children per woman is 2.6, with only 1.5 in developed countries and 2.8 in developing countries.

Dr. Francis Farah, head of the Population and Development Division of the United Nations Population Fund, told reporters that in the past 10 years, the world's population growth rate has shown a downward trend, and by 2050, the total global population will reach 91 billion, significantly lower than the previous estimate of 10 billion. However, due to the large base, the annual increase in the global population is still considerable. In 2004, there were a net increase of 76 million people in the world, 95% of whom were in developing countries. Following this trend, by 2050, the population of developed countries will remain at around 1.2 billion, while that of developing countries will reach 7.9 billion.

Farah said that the main problems in developed countries now are that the fertility rate has fallen below the level of population reproduction. Countries such as Japan have begun to decline in absolute numbers. The second is the aging of the population. At present, 50 countries in the world have entered an aging society.

In order to make up for problems such as insufficient labor force and increased social burden, many developed countries are working hard to absorb new immigrants.

The demographic situation in developing countries also varies. 23 developing countries, including China and Brazil, have entered the stage of declining fertility rates, but due to their large population base, the number of people is still growing. At the same time, they will also face the problem of population aging. The fertility rate in some least developed countries is still too high, with an average of five children per woman. The AIDS epidemic affects the population of these countries, especially those in southern Africa.

It is worth noting that the current global population structure is diamond-shaped, that is, there are few elderly people and children, and many young and middle-aged people. Among them, the teenage age group has the largest population, about 1.3 billion. This indicates that the global population will still face a fertility climax in the next 10 years. Only by delaying marriage and childbearing for people in this age group and spreading out the fertility climax can the negative impact be reduced. Some people have even raised this issue to the level of being directly related to world peace. However, judging from the current situation, the prospects for global population development are still relatively optimistic. (He Hongze, our correspondent to the United Nations)

Germany: There is a shortage of babies in maternity hospitals

“In a few decades, young people will no longer be seen on the streets of Germany.” Concerns are cropping up in German media. With the decrease in newborn babies in recent years, increasing the fertility rate has become an important national policy in Germany. According to statistics from the German Federal Statistics Office, Germany's birth rate has been basically lower than the death rate since 1975. The average German woman has only 1.4 children.

Professor Koremu, a German population expert, told reporters with concern that by 2050, Germany’s population will drop from the current 82 million to more than 70.8 million, and more than half of the population will be over 50 years old. 1 /3 of the population is over 60 years old. Within the next 50 years, the death rate among Germans will greatly exceed the birth rate.

Not long ago, the reporter visited a maternity hospital in Berlin. This hospital has advanced equipment, highly skilled medical staff and more than 1,000 beds. However, only a few babies are born here every day.

Dean Mr. Seaman said helplessly to reporters: "There is no shortage of anything here except babies."

Professor Koremu believes that the change in young people's concepts is the reason why Germany An important reason for the decline in fertility. In the environment of economic globalization, work pressure makes many young people unwilling to start a family, and many married couples do not want children. A survey by Le Monde showed that only half of Germans want to start a family with offspring. The words of German woman Donna are very representative: "I never thought about having a child, which would mean giving up my current job." Taking care of children while taking care of a career gives countless mothers a headache.

The decline in the fertility rate has also had a huge impact on Germany’s pension insurance system, which was established in the 19th century. Germany’s retirement insurance system implements a “transfer method”. According to general rules, the most reasonable and effective ratio should be for every three active employees to support one retiree. But in another 20 years, 100 active employees in Germany will have to support 78 retirees.

European experts on population issues believe that population is an important factor in the strength of a country. In this regard, Dr. Schirmacher, editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, said: "Not having children has seriously affected the country's competitiveness, and it will destroy Germany sooner or later." Former German Prime Minister Schroeder also emphasized that the country's birth rate has become An important economic factor, having more children will become Germany's top strategic priority.

In order to let young people have more children, the German government is "racking its brains." The government first launched an incentive policy whereby women can receive a considerable monthly subsidy for each child they give birth to. The government also proposed to build 230,000 nurseries by 2010 and would extend school hours to help working mothers.

In fact, the continued decline in fertility is not just a problem in Germany, it has become a common phenomenon in Europe. The European Union's population report last year showed that women in European countries had an average of 1.4 children, with Ireland having the highest number, which was only 1.9.

(Aoki, our special correspondent in Germany)

Russia: The death rate is 1.6 times the birth rate

Russia is facing an unprecedented non-war demographic crisis. The Russian government work conference held not long ago announced that Russia's population has decreased by 10 million in the past 10 years. By 2008, Russia's population will decrease by 600,000 every year.

Russia is the largest country in the world, but its population ranks only 8th in the world, with a population density of less than 9 people per square kilometer. Russian demographers pointed out that the current demographic characteristics of Russia are: first, low birth rate, and second, high death rate. In 2005, Russia's mortality rate was 1.6 times the fertility rate, 2 to 3 times higher than that of the United States and European countries. In the mid-1960s, each married woman in Russia gave birth to an average of 2.1 babies. Today, there are only 0.9 babies. There are more than 7 million families who do not want children. Russian demographers warn that if the decline continues at this rate, the Russian nation will become a "minority" in the world; by the 24th century, the Russian nation may even disappear from the earth.

Russian sociology scholars and government officials generally believe that the decline in people's living standards, the increase in people's living burden, and the increase in families unwilling to have children are the main causes of Russia's demographic crisis. Increasing the birth rate, lowering the death rate and implementing good immigration policies are the keys to solving the demographic crisis.

Russian President Putin made the population issue a top priority when he took office. When he delivered the State of the Union address in 2000, he pointed out: "Russia's population is getting smaller year by year. If this trend continues, the survival of our nation will be threatened." Putin ordered the Russian government to establish a special "Social Demographic Issues" Committee” to conduct a comprehensive census of Russian children. Not long ago, Russia planned to pardon 1 million illegal immigrants from the CIS, hoping to change the current demographic situation.

In addition, the Russian government has also decided to increase the subsidy that women will receive for each baby they give birth to to 10,000 rubles (1 US dollar is equivalent to 29 rubles), and the monthly subsidy for babies under 18 months will also be Increased from 500 rubles to 800-1000 rubles. It is estimated that the government will spend between 9 billion and 10 billion rubles per year on this item alone. Despite this, when reporters asked some Russian young people if they wanted to have children, their answer was still no - because compared with the high cost of having children, government subsidies are just a drop in the bucket. (Ma Jian, our correspondent in Russia)

China is the most populous country in the world. According to the "Statistical Bulletin of the National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China in 2004" released by the National Bureau of Statistics on February 28, 2005, my country's total population at the end of 2004 was 1,299.88 million.

At 02:02 on January 6, 2005, China’s 1.3 billionth citizen was born at the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital. This day also became “China’s 1.3 Billion Population Day”. This little citizen is male, weighs 3,660 grams and is 52 centimeters long. gt; gt; gt;

In January 2005, the latest statistics from the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau showed that the actual resident population in Beijing (including registered population and floating population) has now reached 15.244 million. On April 12, 2005, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics announced that the permanent population of Beijing increased from 4.201 million in 1949 to 14.927 million in 2004.

On August 16, 2005, figures released by the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government showed that the population of Hong Kong in mid-2005 was 6,943,600 (provisional figures). gt；gt;gt;

According to the Statistics and Census Bureau of the Macau SAR Government, as of March 31, 2005, the resident population of Macau was estimated to be 469,800, an increase of 17,000 from the same period last year. people. gt; gt; gt;

Xinhuanet reported in January 2005 that the population of Taiwan was nearly 22.7 million. gt;gt;gt;

The population of Taiwan Province and the islands such as Kinmen and Matsu in Fujian Province is 22.28 million (data released by the Taiwan authorities in December 2000).