This week the United Nations (UN) announced that the world officially has 8 billion people living on it.
No exact number can ever be deduced regarding the world’s human population as it fluctuates every minute of every day. What we do know is that this number has been steadily on the rise since the dawn of the human.
The UN released a document called the World Population Prospects 2022 that shows detailed information about the past, present and future of the world’s human population.
The world’s population
According to the UN, in 1950 the world had just over 2 billion people.
By 1975 there were about 4 billion people, in the year 2000 we reached a benchmark of 6 billion and now we have reached 8 billion.
The projections from the UN predict the earth will have 10 billion people walking its surface around 2050.
This steady population increase brings with it numerous hurdles our species will have to overcome, but how will it affect us here on the island?
Victoria and Vancouver Island’s population
Records show Vancouver Island and Victoria’s populations have also both also been rising steadily since colonization.
According to BC Stats and Stats Canada, in 1986 the population of the island was 534,516. Now, in 2022 that number has grown to 864,864.
According to the UN’s new data, the population for Greater Victoria in 1950 was about 100,000. In 2022, the population of the Greater Victoria Area is approximately 394,000.
Our 25% population increase in the time between 1950 and 2022 is exactly the same as the global increase in human population the UN has published a report on.
Given the UN’s data, it is predicted that when the world’s population reaches the next milestone of 9 billion people, Greater Victoria will boast a population of approximately 443,000.
