Groundbreaking study finds reason there could be over 1,000,000,000 more people on Earth than previously thought
Topics: World News, United Nations, Science
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Dmytro Varavin/Getty
Topics: World News, United Nations, Science
A groundbreaking new study has found a reason that may suggest there could be over one billion more people living on Earth than we previously thought.
You'd think we'd know everything there is to know about our planet at this stage now, but studies often seem to combat this way of thinking.
The worldwide population is believed to be around 8.2 billion, according to the UN - a figure that is set to increase to a whopping ten billion by the mid-2080s.
But how accurate are these figures, really?
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Well, new research documented in the journal Nature Communications has found that rural populations may have been undercounted by the United Nations with their official data.
In fact, researchers working on a study published last month believe officials could have undercounted anywhere between 53 per cent to 84 per cent in the data they looked into between 1975 and 2010.
In the study, scientists penned: "This is remarkable, as countless studies have employed these datasets without questioning their accuracy in the rural domain.
"Communities in remote locations or impacted by conflict and violence are difficult to access, and census enumerators often face language barriers and resistance to participation."
To back up their data, the team used Paraguay in 2012 as an example, stating a 2012 census may have incredibly 'missed a quarter of the population'.
Josias Láng-Ritter, a co-author on the study, said: "For the first time, our study provides evidence that a significant proportion of the rural population may be missing from global population datasets.
"The results are remarkable, as these datasets have been used in thousands of studies and extensively support decision-making, yet their accuracy has not been systematically evaluated."
While researchers found figures may be way off between 1975 and 2010, a period of time they heavily focused on, they also notes there is 'strong reason' to believe even latest figures may be off.
Dr Láng-Ritter added: "While our study shows accuracy has somewhat improved over decades, the trend is clear: global population datasets miss a significant portion of the rural population.
"To provide rural communities with equal access to services and other resources, we need to have a critical discussion about the past and future applications of these population maps."
The team of scientists and experts are now calling for improved population censuses, alongside new population counts that they hope should improve the accuracy of such data.