The State of World Population 2023

This report from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) explores how the understanding of global population trends impacts sexual and reproductive health and rights worldwide. As the world's population surpassed 8 billion people in 2022, the report discusses the various perspectives on population and fertility rates, including the growing adoption of government policies to increase, lower, or maintain fertility rates. The report calls for reframing narratives surrounding population growth, urging leaders to consider women's rights and the ability to freely make reproductive choices. This right has become increasingly threatened worldwide through efforts to control population rates, such as coercive contraception or forced sterilization. In the face of rapidly changing global demographics, the report recommends policies that center gender equality, such as parental leave, child tax credits, and universal access to sexual and reproductive health services—to ensure a resilient and equitable future.

Chapters include:

• Chapter 1: Our Human Family, 8 Billion Strong
• Chapter 2: Too Many?
• Chapter 3: Too Few?
• Chapter 4: The State of Reproductive Choice
• Chapter 5: Rights are the Key

In addition to the downloadable publication, an interactive report website offers narratives and multimedia features. Accompanying the report is the UNFPA Data Portal, a data visualization tool with the most current global population data drawn from UNFPA and other U.N. agencies. The World Population Dashboard includes information about numerous demographic, social, and health indicators, including fertility rate, maternal health, family planning, information on sexual and reproductive health, and more. Data can be filtered by country and topic, and results can be downloaded as PDFs or Excel files for further analysis. The portal also includes country pages and additional “dashboards” for specific populations and topics, including female genital mutilation/cutting, midwifery, and adolescents and youth.

The State of World Population is an annual report published by the UNFPA, the leading U.N. agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person's potential is fulfilled. Previous years’ editions can be found in the UNFPA’s publications library.