How many people lived in the world in 1900?

History medium Data from 1900

Guess before you scroll — the answer is below

Answer in people. Shorthand like 9m or 1.2bn works.

The answer

1,650,000,000 people

Roughly 1.7B.

World population was about 1.65 billion in 1900 — roughly a fifth of today’s. It had taken all of human history to reach that point, and then quintupled in a single century, mostly because of falling child mortality rather than rising birth rates.

Where this number comes from

Source United Nations / Maddison Project historical estimates
Figure refers to 1900
Last checked
Unit people

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