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Historic, current and future population 

region population mid-year
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Eastern Africa 68,232,321 84,927,838 109,042,615 142,864,079 190,728,111 248,705,197
Western Africa 64,286,097 80,901,154 105,043,562 138,283,890 181,702,901 235,198,928
Northern Africa 51,972,516 66,283,246 84,389,666 109,630,430 145,128,871 180,311,245
Southern Africa 15,493,548 19,714,472 25,610,884 33,166,251 43,815,699 51,774,278
Middle Africa 27,954,564 33,281,825 41,810,850 54,126,989 71,848,579 94,442,052
Eastern Europe 218,882,325 252,940,797 276,027,106 295,242,868 310,012,955 304,872,179
Northern Europe 77,565,684 81,735,068 87,316,813 89,920,207 92,416,617 95,199,482
Southern Europe 109,055,331 118,335,185 127,761,718 138,094,605 142,576,804 145,935,087
Western Europe 141,601,470 152,430,153 166,489,803 171,749,528 177,470,687 185,378,911
Eastern Asia 687,904,141 795,353,365 990,967,442 1,181,610,968 1,363,324,917 1,496,006,189
South-central Asia 513,706,765 626,380,944 786,373,502 984,813,868 1,221,764,352 1,468,825,534
South-eastern Asia 183,280,650 229,420,042 291,906,404 362,311,630 443,688,711 525,182,508
Western Asia 51,739,953 67,718,305 87,567,326 115,676,531 151,293,075 188,469,309
the Caribbean 16,341,002 19,839,685 24,368,099 28,213,799 32,305,325 36,152,534
South America 111,359,374 146,482,295 191,068,715 241,779,283 296,607,351 348,973,550
Northern America 166,348,185 199,019,547 226,906,492 252,430,687 278,042,327 313,564,949
Central America 37,748,600 51,191,641 69,845,113 90,173,963 113,067,928 135,278,845
Australia & New Zealand 10,175,647 12,733,019 15,488,210 17,786,050 20,369,919 22,855,586
Melanesia 1,913,530 2,411,588 3,169,456 4,114,475 5,223,716 6,624,884
Micronesia 151,936 187,347 244,969 310,077 428,639 508,470
Polynesia 235,015 305,897 402,041 466,158 554,444 647,879
World 2,555,948,654 3,041,593,413 3,711,800,786 4,452,766,336 5,282,371,928 6,084,907,596

region population mid-year
2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050
Eastern Africa 248,705,197 323,879,238 419,550,972 528,202,072 655,628,387 800,460,716
Western Africa 235,198,928 297,476,102 366,604,222 440,198,889 515,646,785 589,812,679
Northern Africa 180,311,245 213,832,832 248,297,543 280,578,334 309,598,258 335,364,338
Southern Africa 51,774,278 56,382,769 56,084,210 56,387,414 56,430,182 56,634,042
Middle Africa 94,442,052 124,940,611 161,404,806 202,533,574 246,197,675 290,744,495
Eastern Europe 304,872,179 292,081,749 279,594,563 264,072,938 248,053,739 231,407,894
Northern Europe 95,199,482 97,703,304 100,074,555 101,419,354 101,017,115 99,645,935
Southern Europe 145,935,087 148,357,720 147,011,483 143,447,064 138,549,326 131,667,670
Western Europe 185,378,911 190,661,121 193,334,753 193,468,316 190,956,638 186,198,418
Eastern Asia 1,496,006,189 1,580,575,060 1,661,494,297 1,685,067,689 1,665,591,759 1,618,863,136
South-central Asia 1,468,825,534 1,740,092,125 2,012,592,501 2,272,310,125 2,507,264,286 2,704,270,732
South-eastern Asia 525,182,508 599,655,070 668,327,973 727,901,003 773,944,913 804,070,133
Western Asia 188,469,309 229,025,112 269,079,813 307,404,287 344,042,394 376,081,786
the Caribbean 36,152,534 40,285,297 44,754,833 48,789,443 52,144,505 54,864,992
South America 348,973,550 398,270,489 443,753,431 482,542,758 512,167,228 531,202,301
Northern America 313,564,949 343,054,247 372,553,539 402,510,412 432,371,995 461,337,971
Central America 135,278,845 155,300,020 174,949,921 192,375,738 206,293,118 216,274,626
Australia & New Zealand 22,855,586 25,768,031 28,553,268 30,969,056 32,806,956 34,211,732
Melanesia 6,624,884 8,201,509 9,756,643 11,262,853 12,665,699 13,876,493
Micronesia 508,470 595,599 675,823 745,443 802,770 848,207
Polynesia 647,879 742,426 842,804 947,217 1,049,051 1,149,967
World 6,084,907,596 6,866,880,431 7,659,291,953 8,373,133,979 9,003,222,779 9,538,988,263
source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, International Data Base (2008-06-18).