World Population Day: Looking beyond the numbers and focusing on
people
The global population has now surpassed 8 billion, and it’s expected
to reach 9 billion by 2037
[https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/]. Every year on 11
July, the World Population Day
[https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-population-day] brings
attention to these numbers and the people behind them. With population
figures separated by age, ethnicity, gender, and other factors, the
diversity of our societies can be reflected more accurately than
before. However, the most marginalised communities remain
under-represented in data, having profound effects on their lives and
well-being.

In the last thirty years, progress has been made in improving
population data gathering, analysis, and usage. These advancements
helped enable improvements in health care delivery, leading to better
overall and reproductive health, increased life expectancy
[https://www.unfpa.org/ageing], and granting the ability to exercise
individual rights and choices. Other observed trends include high
levels of urbanisation [https://www.unfpa.org/urbanization] and
accelerated migration. These changes have implications on economic
developments, employment, income distribution, poverty, and social
protection.

To grasp societal developments optimally, it is important to analyse
and utilise global population data. With the World Population
Dashboard [https://www.unfpa.org/data/world-population-dashboard],
information on topics like family planning, education, gender, rights,
and human capital can be found. Together, this data sheds light on the
health and rights of people across the world, paying special attention
to women and adolescents. On data.europa.eu
[https://data.europa.eu/en], there are also many datasets related to
European population data which can provide further insights.

To make sure the needs of individuals are addressed accordingly,
policymakers should gain awareness on how many people live on the
planet and what they represent. World Population Day is seen as both a
moment of reflection and a call to action to stimulate the
conversation and ignite progress.

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Publication Date/Time
2025-07-11T08:00:00+00:00
Reflecting on global population trends and sharing the responsibility
for a sustainable future