Earth is now home to an astonishing 8 billion people, as per a new population report published by the United Nations (UN). That’s the number eight followed by nine zeroes, for context.

The middle of the month – November 15, 2022 – was chosen as the official day to mark this milestone because, as per the UN, it is impossible to keep exact track of hundreds of thousands of births and deaths each day.

It is the first time in history that 8bn people have been alive on our planet.

The UN estimates there will be 9 billion humans on Earth by 2037, and some 10 billion by 2058.