<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> An editor has expressed concern that this article may have a number of irrelevant citations . Please help improve this article by verifying these references and challenge any that are not reliable or do not support the article . (March 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> In demographics, the world population is the total number of humans currently living . The world population was estimated to have reached 7.6 billion as of December 2017 . The United Nations estimates it will further increase to 11.8 billion by the year 2100 . </P> <P> World population has experienced continuous growth since the end of the Great Famine of 1315--17 and the Black Death in 1350, when it was near 370 million . The highest population growth rates--global population increases above 1.8% per year--occurred between 1955 and 1975, peaking to 2.06% between 1965 and 1970 . The growth rate has declined to 1.18% between 2010 and 2015 and is projected to decline to 0.13% by the year 2100 . Total annual births were highest in the late 1980s at about 139 million, and are now expected to remain essentially constant at their 2011 level of 135 million, while deaths number 56 million per year and are expected to increase to 80 million per year by 2040 . The median age of the world's population was estimated to be 30.1 years in 2016, with the male median age estimated at 29.4 years and female at 30.9 years . </P> <P> The 2012 UN projections show a continued increase in population in the near future with a steady decline in population growth rate; the global population is expected to reach between 8.3 and 10.9 billion by 2050 . 2003 UN Population Division population projections for the year 2150 range between 3.2 and 24.8 billion . One of many independent mathematical models supports the lower estimate, while a 2014 estimate forecasts between 9.3 and 12.6 billion in 2100, and continued growth thereafter . Some analysts have questioned the sustainability of further world population growth, highlighting the growing pressures on the environment, global food supplies, and energy resources . </P>

When did the world population start to increase