More births make population grow

The world population is quickly growing, but the increase is not due to the fact that women give birth to more children nor that the total number of births is growing.

In 1965, the average woman gave birth to 5.0 kids, and in 1985, it was 3.5 kids. Now, the rate is only 2.4. That is only slightly more than the reproduction rate of 2.3, which is necessary to make a generation of children grow up to become just as numerous as their parents' generation. So although the number of women has risen dramatically since the 1980s, the annual number of births in the world has been fairly stable.

The explanation of the huge population growth of the past 100 years’ is that life expectancy increased more rapidly than the birth rate fell. Thanks to improved living conditions, fewer people die than those who are born. When, at some point in the future, the birth rate reaches the same level as the death rate, the population growth will cease, and the population will plateau.