Every minute of every day more than 250 babies are born into the world. The earth's population as of 1988 stood at about 5.2 billion people, and it continues to grow rapidly. If current trends
continue, by the year 2050 there will be some 11 billion people on earth. Figure 4.2 vividly illustrates
population dynamics. At the beginning of recorded history, there were about 300 million people on earth. World population then took more than 1500 years to double. That is a growth rate of much
less than 
%. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the
world's population started to rise steadily. By 1900, it had reached the 1.7 billion mark, the result of a growth rate of about 
%.
The twentieth century saw a truly remarkable rate of population growth. During the first half of the century, the world's population, growing at 1% per year, reached the 2.5 billion level. Today, as a result of an absolutely devastating growth rate of some 2% per year for the first two decades of the second half of the century, world population has doubled again. 1
The remarkable growth during the second half of the twentieth century took place almost exclusively in the developing countries. This fact is of major importance for international business managers. The contrast between the developed and the developing countries is evident. Most of the former experienced a slight rate of growth in population. Two countries, Britain and West Germany, actually experienced a decline in population over the last five years. While most of Europe, including the USSR and Japan, grew at an annual rate of less than 5%, the United States and Canada added to their populations at a rate of more than 5% per year.
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