The World - News from May 24, 1989
The world’s population stands at 5,234,000,000, an increase of nearly a quarter of a billion people since it passed the 5-billion mark just two years ago, the Population Reference Bureau in Washington said. Demographers Carl Haub and Mary Kent, in a statement released with the bureau’s report, said world population growth slowed in the 1970s but then accelerated and, as the 1980s draw to an end, is rising by 1.8% annually, the highest rate of the decade. “It appears quite possible that the sixth billion (person) will be attained in record time--just 10 years,” they said. The Population Reference Bureau is a private, nonprofit research organization.
More to Read
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.