The global population pyramid
ourworldindata.org
The global population pyramid
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Re: The global population pyramid
#2It took me a few minutes to understand the chart shown here, I think because it has the dependent and independent axes inverted.
To look at the number of people of a given age in a given year, you follow the line for that year, go down the left to find the given age, and see where it lines up at the top to get the number of people.
The shading between the lines is irrelevant and just serves to confuse: the area under the line doesn't mean much.
Re: The global population pyramid
#3That visualization of the population pyramid is just very beautifully done.
And I was saying this exact point for some time. "We are at a turning point in global population history. ... Not children will be added to the world population, but people of working age and old age."
Super important post this one!
Re: The global population pyramid
#4This is a really interesting visual presentation of the data. Some cool observations:
1. The first five curves (1950–1990) are all in 10-year increments, so for instance, 1950's 20-year-old population maps very directly to 1960's 30-year-old population (hence the "rippling" effect produced by those six curves).
2. What's with the sudden pinch in the population of 20-year-olds in 2018? It tapers in very heavily from the corresponding point on the 1990 curve, and apart from the newborn population, is the only local maximum anywhere on the chart. Did I miss something in the news? Why would such a large number of kids born in 1990 be dead by now, compared to previous generations?
3. Why do curves for previous years have such pronounced staggering, while projections for the future are comparatively much smoother?
Re: The global population pyramid
#5I went through the interactive chart following the references. Asia seems to be on a bell curve with the continent reaching saturation in the next 3 to 4 decades. Will be really interesting to see how the world deals with population explosion about to happen in Africa.
Will be it the next Asia? The next continent we outsource our industries to? Does it have any significant advantages or disadvantages owing to its geographical location?
Re: The global population pyramid
#6This is a really interesting visual presentation of the data. Some cool observations: 1. The first five curves (1950–1990) are all in 10-year increments, so for instance, 1950's 20-year-old population maps very directly to 1960's 30-year-old population (hence the "rippling" effect produced by those six curves). 2. What's with the sudden pinch in the population of 20-year-olds in 2018? It tapers in very heavily from t…
I’m also curious about 2.
From my reading it looks more like these children weren’t born at all rather than that they all died. My best guess is something related to the collapse of the Soviet Union caused a decrease in birth rates.
Re: The global population pyramid
#7This is a really interesting visual presentation of the data. Some cool observations: 1. The first five curves (1950–1990) are all in 10-year increments, so for instance, 1950's 20-year-old population maps very directly to 1960's 30-year-old population (hence the "rippling" effect produced by those six curves). 2. What's with the sudden pinch in the population of 20-year-olds in 2018? It tapers in very heavily from t…
For 3. I would guess that the “staggering” happens due to big geopolitical events causing significant changes to global birth rates, and the future lines do not show that because they can’t predict these events happening in the future, so they just try to give an average guess.
Re: The global population pyramid
#8It took me a few minutes to understand the chart shown here, I think because it has the dependent and independent axes inverted. To look at the number of people of a given age in a given year, you follow the line for that year, go down the left to find the given age, and see where it lines up at the top to get the number of people. The shading between the lines is irrelevant and just serves to confuse: the area under…
The area under a line is the global population, no?
Re: The global population pyramid
#9I went through the interactive chart following the references. Asia seems to be on a bell curve with the continent reaching saturation in the next 3 to 4 decades. Will be really interesting to see how the world deals with population explosion about to happen in Africa. Will be it the next Asia? The next continent we outsource our industries to? Does it have any significant advantages or disadvantages owing to its geo…
It will be also interesting what will happen when the population pyramid inverts in Europe and North America.
Re: The global population pyramid
#10These types of graphs are one unique example where using “time” not on the x-axis is preferred. I think because it highlights the symmetry around x=0.