A Growing Population

World Population Growth Slows Modestly, Still on Track for 7 Billion in Late 2011

World population passed 6.9 billion in mid-2010, according to United Nations demographers, and is on track to reach 7 billion in late 2011. The number of people added to the population each year—79.3 million—has been consistent for nearly a decade. Since the world population is larger each year, of course, this consistent increment equates to a slow fall in the annual growth rate. From mid-2009 to mid-2010, the population grew 1.16 percent, compared with 1.32 percent annually a decade earlier and with slightly more than 2 percent four decades ago.