You were never alone
The year you were born, millions of other babies arrived too. Worldwide, around 90 million babies were born in 1950, and the number climbed past 140 million by 1990, peaking at about 146 million in 2012 before easing off. In individual countries the story is different: the United States had its baby boom after the Second World War, the United Kingdom had peaks in the 1960s, and India’s births grew for decades. The bars above show those patterns year by year, with your year highlighted.
Everyone born in the same year as you has lived through the same world events at the same age. They started school in the same year, came of age at the same time and will reach every milestone alongside you.
How we calculate it
We look up the number of births for your birth year in the United Nations World Population Prospects 2024, the standard source for population figures. Births per day is that number divided by the number of days in the year, and births per minute divides again by 1,440. The rank compares your year with every other year from 1950 to now, so first means the busiest year on record for that place.
| Year | World births | United States | United Kingdom |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 102 million | 4.37 million | 0.91 million |
| 1980 | 127 million | 3.75 million | 0.75 million |
| 1990 | 143 million | 4.17 million | 0.80 million |
| 2010 | 143 million | 3.98 million | 0.81 million |
| 2023 | 132 million | 3.66 million | 0.69 million |
Worked example. Someone born in 1990 shares their birth year with about 143 million people worldwide, which works out at around 393,000 babies a day, or 273 every minute. In the United States, 4.17 million babies were born that year.
Your year in context
Bigger birth years mean more competition for school places and first jobs, but also bigger reunions and more people who share your references. Smaller years can mean the opposite. Either way, your birth year is a cohort of millions that will move through life together.
Questions people ask
Where do the numbers come from?
From the United Nations World Population Prospects 2024, which estimates the number of babies born in every country each year since 1950. Figures after 2023 are the UN’s projections.
Why does the data start in 1950?
The UN’s country-by-country estimates begin in 1950. Earlier birth records exist for some countries but not in a consistent form for the whole world.
How many people share my exact birthday?
Roughly the number born in your year divided by 365. Births are not spread perfectly evenly, though: in many countries late summer and early autumn are the busiest months, and holidays such as Christmas Day and New Year’s Day are among the quietest.
How many of them are still alive?
For anyone under 50 in a wealthy country, the large majority. Worldwide the share is lower, especially for older generations. This page shows births, not survivors.
Sources. United Nations, World Population Prospects 2024, via Our World in Data. Calculations run in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere.