Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/997040/world-population-by-continent-1950-2020/ Population of the world's continents from 1800 to 2020, with estimates until 2100 (in thousands) Additional Information © Statista 2023 Show source Population in thousands Asia Africa Americas Europe Oceania 1800 1815 1830 1845 1860 1875 1890 1905 1920 1935 1950 1965 1980 1995 2010 2025* 2040* 2055* 2070* 2085* 2100* 0 1,000,000 2,000,000 3,000,000 4,000,000 5,000,000 6,00... 1800 • Asia 683,164.23 • Africa 81,271.18 • Americas 23,996.6 • Europe 194,785.79 • Oceania 1,523.35 Sources Show sources information Show publisher information Use Ask Statista Research Service Release date July 2019 Region Worldwide Survey time period 1800 to 2020 Supplementary notes Global population 1800-2100, by continent Published by Aaron O'Neill, Jun 21, 2022 The world's population rst reached one billion people in 1803, it is expected to reach eight billion in 2023, and will peak at almost 11 billion by the end of the century. Although it took thousands of years to reach one billion people, it did so at the beginning of a phenomenon known as the demographic transition; from this point onwards, population growth has skyrocketed, and since the 1960s the population has increased by one billion people every 12 to 15 years. The demographic transition sees a sharp drop in mortality due to factors such as vaccination, sanitation, and improved food supply; the population boom that follows is due to increased survival rates among children and higher life expectancy among the general population; and fertility then drops in response to this population growth. Regional di erences The demographic transition is a global phenomenon, but it has taken place at di erent times across the world The industrialized countries of Europe and North America were the rst to go *Estimates. Data from 1950 onwards was taken from the linked United Nations source. Data from before 1950 is available here at Our World In Data. Citation formats View options