Estimates suggest that the current human population stands at 8.2 billion people. However, a researcher says that this number might be wrong and is not an accurate count of the human population on Earth. He reached the conclusion after studying 300 rural dam projects across 35 countries and says that the numbers do not properly account for people living in rural areas. 

Advertisment

Josias Láng-Ritter—a postdoctoral researcher at Aalto University in Finland and lead author of the study says that the difference might be huge. "The actual population living in rural areas is much higher than the global population data indicates," he said.

His study was published in the journal Nature Communications.

Citing his study, Josias Láng-Ritter says, "Depending on the dataset, rural populations have been underestimated by between 53 per cent to 84 per cent over the period studied."

Advertisment

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.”

Also Read: Happiest Countries in the World 2025: Finland on top, Israel at number 8; guess where India is ranked

Dam data hints at improper count of human population

Advertisment

To evaluate the accuracy of population data, he used his background in water resource management. Gathering different kinds of population data from rural dam projects of 35 countries, Láng-Ritter matched them with other population totals calculated by organizations like WorldPop, GWP, GRUMP, LandScan, and GHS-POP (which were also analyzed in this study).

He says this system is reliable because when dams are built, people from the area are relocated. They are counted precisely "because dam companies pay compensation to those affected."

"Unlike global population datasets, such local impact statements provide comprehensive, on-the-ground population counts that are not skewed by administrative boundaries. We then combined these with spatial information from satellite imagery," he said in a statement.

Also Read: Why are Americans unhappy? THIS is the reason, according to World Happiness Report

As per the study, the problem with correctly counting the number of people in rural areas stems from a lack of resources and challenges in travelling to these places. When the rural population is misrepresented, it creates a problem of properly dividing resources.

Meanwhile, several experts do not agree with Láng-Ritter, especially not such a wide gap between the numbers. “If we really are undercounting by that massive amount, it’s a massive news story and goes against all the years of thousands of other datasets," Stuart Gietel-Basten from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology told New Scientist said.