How many people have ever lived on Earth?

The estimate is built by modelling population sizes and birth rates across different eras of history. For most of that time the human population was small, and very high infant death rates meant many people born did not live long. The world reached its first billion people only around 1804. It passed 8 billion on 15 November 2022, according to the United Nations. That means people alive today make up only about 7 percent of all humans who have ever been born.