World Population to Reach 6.5 Billion

February 23, 2006 -- The world’s population will exceed 6.5 billion shortly, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates that each second approximately four people are born and almost two die. The bureau operates a World Population clock that shows the rate of growth. In 1999 the world’s population reached 6 billion, doubling in only 40 years.

While population levels are still growing, they are doing so more slowly than recent decades. One of the reasons for this decline is that the average woman has fewer than two children in Japan, the European Union, and the former republics of the Soviet Union. The highest population growth rates come from the poorest regions of Africa, the Middle East, and India. The U.S. population is steadily growing, augmented by high immigration rates, and it is estimated to reach 300 million this year.

Several National Research Council reports deal with population and demographic issues. Growing Populations, Changing Landscapes: Studies from India, China, and the United States examines the population and land use patterns in the world’s three most populous countries. Beyond Six Billion: Forecasting the World's Population predicts future growth rates, a decline in fertility, a rise in life expectancy levels, a change in migration between countries, and an increase in the number of young people.

• Growing Populations, Changing Landscapes: Studies from India, China, and the United States (2001)
• Beyond Six Billion: Forecasting the World's Population (2000)

• World Population Clock
• World Population Information