Rural regions account for 43 percent of the world’s population – estimated to be just over 8 billion, at the last count – and if the calculations in this new study are correct then the number of unaccounted-for people could potentially stretch into the billions.(…)
“We were surprised to find that the actual population living in rural areas is much higher than the global population data indicates – depending on the dataset, rural populations have been underestimated by between 53 percent to 84 percent over the period studied.”(…)
ad: “Not everyone is convinced. Scientists who weren’t involved in the study told Chris Stokel-Walker at New Scientist that improvements in satellite imagery and the quality of data collecting in some countries would make these discrepancies smaller.”(…)
Don’t get too scientific now.
It’s just a study. Like many others. All studies are biased in some way. A proper scientific study can question status quo and or provide alternate views or methods.
In the end most scientists find 8 B people a reasonable and probable amount. But they don’t know, as those are estimates. The guys from this new study just used a different approach and come up with maybe 1B more.
Original publication Nature