Global Population Growth

In 1960, the world population was three billion people. Today, that number has doubled. The gap between the rich and the poor countries is being filled with emerging market economies, but the width of the scale between the richest and the poorest has increased. The world’s population is predicted to grow to 9 billion over the next 50 years, but without help, those developing countries will still be aspiring for such bare necessities as food and shoes.

Hans Rosling, professor of global health at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute with a focus on the developing world, is a visually stimulating speaker. He very effectively describes his world population models with colorful “analog” props. But at the end of the lecture, he switches to digital and shows an animated chart that incredibly drives home his points. It’s a short talk, so make sure you watch it all the way to the end.

The talk was given at TED in June 2010.

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