The Global Gender Balance in 2017
What share of the population of each world region is female?
1. As of July 2017, the share of the world population that is female stands at about 49.5%.
2. The UN estimates that there are 3.74 billion women in total on earth today, compared to 3.81 billon men (50.5%).
3. In developed regions, slightly more than half the population (51.3%) is female, while in less developed regions slightly less than half is female (49.2%).
Global Population Growth Per Minute
4. These small distinctions are likely related to women in developed countries having longer life expectancies and better childbirth survival rates.
5. Europe’s 384 million women and girls are 51.7% of the regional population. Northern America’s 182 million women and girls equal 50.1% of the population.
6. Latin America and the Caribbean average 50.6% female, from 327 million.
7. Africa is home to 629 million women and girls, making up 50.1% of the population.
8. Asia is home to 2.2 billion women and girls, but they are just 48.8%, with even slightly lower shares in China (48.5%) and India (48.2%).
9. This is largely due to a preference for male children in both countries, which leads to abortions on a gender-selection basis or the abandonment of female children.
10. This deplorable practice is known as “femicide” or “female gendercide.”
Sources: The Globalist Research Center, UN Population Division
