But what is really going on with global population trends? In this essay, we present four surprising facts that will change the way you think about population, the environment, and human progress. 1. The global population is likely to peak and decline in the 21st century

The world population is still growing, but the rate at which it is growing has actually been decreasing ever since its peak in the 1960s. Currently the world population is growing at about 1.2 percent per year.