Are There More Men or Women in the World?

The World Population Day is often observed on July 11 of every year. It is marked by focusing attention on the pressing issues of an alarming rise in population, women empowerment, and gender equality. The United Nations estimates the world population to be approximately 7.5 billion people with the number likely to hit 8 billion by 2023. The gap between men and women has considerably reduced in the last couple of years. In 2011, the sex ratio in human was about 1:1 with the ratio at birth estimated to be about 107 male children for every 100 girls born. In 2015, the equation came down to about 102 men to 100 women.

Global Demographic Overview

As of April 2017, the estimated world population hit a 7.5 billion mark. The world population has grown steadily since the Great Famine of 1315-1317. According to the world’s statistics, there are more men than women in the world today. The United Nations estimates the number of men to approximately 3,776,294,273 while women are estimated to be approximately 3,710,295,643. Approximately, 107 boys are born for every 100 girls born. While there are more men than women from a global perspective, the balance is often flipped in different demographics and geographic locations. Countries in the Middle East and North America have significantly higher men to women ratio. In India, there are 48 million more men than women while China has 42 million men than women. In the United Arab Emirates, the ratio is 274 men for every 100 women.

On the flip side, countries such as Russia, Latvia, Ukraine, and Armenia have a higher number of women compared to men. Russia has about 87 men for every 100 women while Latvia and Ukraine average about 85 men for every 100 women. Overall, there tend to be more women than men aged over 60 years since women have longer life expectancy compared to their male counterparts. The global average life expectancy for women is 71 years while for men the life expectancy is about 67 years. Each country and demographic have unique factors that affect the ratio of men to women. However, scientists and the UN are satisfied with the balance between the sexes.

Why are there More Men than Women?

The imbalance between men and women can be attributed to several factors ranging from scientific to human activities. Countries such as India and China tend to prefer boys to girls hence are often engaging in sex-selective abortion and gendercide. Also, there is a notion that naturally, women tend to give birth to more male children than women. According to the study conducted in 2015 by the National Academy of Science, the rate of the male and female child conceived by women was almost equal with male slightly higher. In the United Arab Emirates, the high number of men compared to women is attributed to a large number of foreign workers who leave their families back in their home countries. However, the higher number of women in Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, and Belarus is attributed to the higher life expectancy in women compared to men.