Imagine if the world had only 100 inhabitants. That would be their inhabitants

We are eight billion. In these days, the world population exceeds this milestone for the first time. But what is the composition of these eight billion? If we make the world a place with 100 inhabitants, the major dividing lines become visible.

There are exactly 50 men and women in the global village of 100 inhabitants. Strictly speaking, 50.41 percent of the population is male. So there are very few men left, but in a village of 100 inhabitants this difference is not decisive.

Significantly fewer elderly people (65+) than young people (younger than 15 years) live in our village. While 25 are not yet 15 years old, only 10 of them can look back on a life of more than 65 years.

People from Asia clearly have the majority in our village. 19 of them are from China, 18 from India, 23 are from other Asian countries. There are at least 10 from Europe. From Switzerland: none.

Linguistically, China also dominates. While twelve villagers state Chinese as their native language, the second largest language group is only six people strong. You speak Spanish.

While almost every fifth person in our village does not belong to any religion, Christians make up the largest religious community with 31 people.

According to the World Bank, 57 of our 100 people are urban or agglomerates. 43 are spread over the more remote farms in our city.

30 people are unemployed or have too little work to live on. At the same time, people in agriculture and those in the service sector are roughly in balance.

Eight people in our village officially live in poverty. In September 2022, the World Bank adjusted the poverty line from $1.90 to $2.15 a day. Nearly half of residents live on less than $6.85. Only one person in our village has a million dollar fortune (rounded up).

46 (forty six) percent of the wealth in our village belongs to one person. At the other end of the spectrum, 55 of our residents struggle with 1 percent of total wealth, according to the 2021 Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook.

Exact numbers are missing here. But UNESCO reported in September 2022 that at least 770 million people are illiterate. That’s about 12 people in our village. However, only one has a university degree (or equivalent).

In 2022, approximately 1.45 billion people owned a car. Calculated as far as our village, this means: 18 have a car.

Our village is not completely healthy: every third person smokes, 14 people are overweight.

According to UN figures, about 103 million people will be displaced by mid-2022. This includes refugees, asylum seekers, displaced persons and other vulnerable persons. For our village this means: One person is on the run.

As the WHO announced in March 2022, only 74 people in our village have direct access to clean water. Another 15 live less than 30 minutes from a verified water source, while 4 travel more than 30 minutes. 5 use water from untested wells/wells and 2 must use surface water.

While 55 people in our village use safe sanitary facilities, which we are usually used to in Switzerland, 45 do not have access to clean toilets – or no sanitary facilities as we know them. This will be reported by the UN in 2022.

Within a year, two children would be born and one would die. So the population would increase by one person to 101.

The village is said to have invested $26,500 in military spending by 2021. And $2,237 in development aid.