How fast is the world's population growing?
The world's current growth rate is about 1.3%, representing a doubling time of 54 years. We can expect the world's population of approximately 6 billion to become 12 billion by 2054 if the current rate of growth continues. The world's growth rate peaked in the 1960s at 2% and a doubling time of 35 years.

World Population Day will kick off the 7 Billion Actions campaign.

The world population has grown tremendously over the past two thousand years.
The tremendous interest generated by the Day of 5 Billion on 11 July 1987 led to the establishment of World Population Day as an annual event. In 1999, the world population passed the six billion mark.
In 1989, in its decision 89/46, the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme recommended that, in order to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues in the context of overall development plans and programmes and the need to find solutions for these issues, 11 July should be observed by the international community as World Population Day.
For more than 20 years, 11 July has been an occasion to mark the significance of population trends and related issues.
This year, as the world population is expected to surpass 7 billion, UNFPA and partners are launching a campaign called 7 Billion Actions. It aims to engage people, spur commitment and spark actions related to the opportunities and challenges presented by a world of 7 billion people.
In many ways a world of 7 billion is an achievement: Globally, people are living longer and healthier lives, and couples are choosing to have fewer children. However, meeting the needs of current and future generations presents daunting challenges as our numbers continue to increase.
Whether we can live together equitably on a healthy planet will depend on the choices and decisions we make now. In a world of 7 billion people, and counting, we need to count each other. Because there are 1.2 billion people who are living below poverty level

There are seven key messages in The World at 7 Billion campaign.
1. Reducing poverty and inequality also slows population growth.
2. Unleashing the power of women and girls will accelerate progress.
3. The largest population of young people is changing our world and future.
4. Ensuring that every child is wanted and every childbirth safe leads to smaller and stronger families.
5. All seven billion of us, and those who follow, depend on the health of our planet.
6. Lower fertility and longer lives add up to an unprecedented challenge: ageing populations.
7. The next two billion people will live in cities, so we need to plan now.

Themes of Past World Population Day
2011 - 7 Billion Actions
2010 - Be Counted: Say What You Need
2009 - Fight Poverty: Educate Girls
2008 - Plan Your Family, Plan Your Future
2007 - Men at Work
2006 - Being Young is Tough
2005 - Equality Empowers
2004 - ICPD at 10
2003 - 1,000,000,000 adolescents

World Population Growth
Year Population
1 200 million
1000 275 million
1500 450 million
1650 500 million
1750 700 million
1804 1 billion
1850 1.2 billion
1900 1.6 billion
1927 2 billion
1950 2.55 billion
1955 2.8 billion
1960 3 billion
1965 3.3 billion
1970 3.7 billion
1975 4 billion
1980 4.5 billion
1985 4.85 billion
1990 5.3 billion
1995 5.7 billion
1999 6 billion
2006 6.5 billion
2009 6.8 billion
2011 7 billion
2025 8 billion
2043 9 billion
2083 10 billion

Largest Urban Areas in the World
1. Tokyo, Japan - 34,100,000
2. Mexico City, Mexico - 22,650,000
3. Seoul, South Korea - 22,250,000
4. New York, United States - 21,850,000
5. Sao Paulo, Brazil - 20,200,000
6. Mumbai, India - 19,700,000
7. Dehli, India - 19,500,000
8. Los Angeles, United States - 17,950,000
9. Shanghai, China - 17,900,000
10. Jakarta, Indonesia - 17,150,000

Largest Cities in the World
1. Tokyo-Yokohama, Japan - 33,200,000
2. New York, United States - 17,800,000
3. Sao Paulo, Brazil - 17,700,000
4. Seoul-Incheon, South Korea - 17,500,000
5. Mexico City, Mexico - 17,400,000
6. Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto, Japan - 16,425,000
7. Manila, Philippines - 14,750,000
8. Mumbai, India (formerly Bombay) - 14,350,000
9. Jakarta, Indonesia - 14,250,000
10. Lagos, Nigeria - 13,400,000