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The Graphic Truth: 8 billion, but nowhere near equal

Infographic showing global lack of access to electricity, internet & water along with hunger below world's fastest-growing and most rapidly declining populations.
Paige Fusco
By Carlos Santamaria,
Carlos Santamaria

Carlos Santamaria is a former senior writer at GZERO.

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Paige Fusco
Paige Fusco
Paige Fusco is a graphic designer creating visualizations - data-driven and otherwise - for Eurasia Group and GZERO Media.
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November 15, 2022

The world's population hit 8 billion on Tuesday, according to UN projections. So, why should you care about this particular milestone? For one thing, population growth is slowing down, which means it'll take longer to reach 9 billion. That’s mainly a result of declining birth rates in Europe and East Asia. For another, 8 billion humans are now competing for increasingly scarce resources and territory in a planet already suffering the effects of climate change. Meanwhile, countries in sub-Saharan Africa are still having babies like there's no tomorrow — precisely where people have the least access to basic stuff like food, electricity, the internet, or water.

This was featured in Signal, the daily politics newsletter of GZERO Media. For smart coverage of global affairs that normal people can understand, subscribe here.

world populationdemographicspopulation/demographicspopulation growthgraphic truth

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