The two figures below show the development of the world's human population since 10,000 BC to the present and beyond based on the best available estimates.
The top figure shows the world population since 10,000 BC on a logarithmic scale; every horizontal line indicates a 10-fold population increase. The three red arrows indicate the onset of civilization before 3500 BC, the beginning of the Iron Age around 1000 BC and the beginning of the Industrial Age around 1800 AD:
The second figure enlarges the last 300 years and shows the world population on a linear scale; every horizontal line indicates an increase by 2 billion people. It is seen that the rapid increase of the world population since about 1800 has accelerated since the end of World War II:
Sources:
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division,
International Programs Center
(http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/worldhis.html, last revised: 23 Sep 2003 16:05:42 EDT).
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA): "The State of World Population 1999."