What would happen if there were only 100 people in the world? How many would have cell phones? A college degree? Live in poverty?
The idea of the world as 100 people has been around since 1990, but with our world population reaching seven billion – yes, I said seven billion – it’s hard to visualize what that number looks like when it comes to statistics. How about visualizing the statistics for just 100 people? A little easier? I thought so.
Jack Hagley, a London based graphic designer, made that visualization come to life with the infographic titled “The world as 100 people.”
The infographic takes us through various topics including religion, language, age, internet access and many more. Out of 100 people in world, 50 female and 50 male, there are some more obvious statistics, but there a ton of statistics that will really make you rethink your “first world problems.”
Some of the not so surprising statistics include:
- 66 people would be between the ages of 15 and 64 (hello baby boom)
- 87 people have safe water
- 77 have a place of shelter
- 83 people are able to read and write
Okay now to the most interesting part, the “know your socks off” statistics.
- 70 people cannot access the Internet
Just think of all the time you spend on the Internet. From catching up on social media, to skyping Mom and Dad at home, to even being able to read this article right now. You’re probably thinking that it would be pretty cool to not be able to submit that essay you procrastinated on, but the Internet is part of our daily lives and 70 percent of the world wouldn’t have access to it.
- 93 people do not have a college education
How do you think that would affect our technology advancement or agriculture system? A college education is such a vital aspect of our world’s ability to continuously improve in the world of medicine and science. Imagine if only seven percent of the population would have the education to make developments in the world in those fields.
Side note: in 2006, the statistics for this infographic revealed that only one person out of the 100 people would have a college education.
- 48 people live on less than two US dollars per day
What did you buy today? I’m going to take a wild guess and say that most people reading this article will spend more than two dollars today, and that doesn’t include rent or electricity. What if you had to live off of two dollars every day? No more Chipotle or data plan or beer.
While the population of the world will probably never consist of just 100 people, I hope these statistics make you rethink a few things about your own standard of living. Most or all of us have the opportunity to receive college educations and even afford our daily Chipotle because, let’s be honest, we all know we order that burrito way too often.
Disclaimer: the statistics were originally provided by Donella Meadows in 1990 and have since been updated.
