How has the global population distribution by race/ethnicity changed from 2015 to 2025?
Executive summary
Global population grew from roughly 7.3–7.4 billion in 2015 to about 8.2–8.3 billion by 2025, with growth concentrated in Africa and parts of Asia while Europe and some high‑income regions age or plateau (UN/Worldometer estimates) [1] [2]. Sources in this set do not provide a single, consistent global breakdown by race or ethnicity for 2015 vs 2025; most reporting describes regional shifts (by continent/age) and national race/ethnicity changes—particularly detailed for the United States—but not a harmonized global race/ethnicity distribution (available sources do not mention a global race/ethnicity breakdown for 2015–2025).
1. A numeric baseline: world population rose by roughly 0.9–1.0 billion
United Nations publications and derived data indicate the world population in mid‑2015 was about 7.3–7.4 billion and by the mid‑2020s had crossed 8 billion, with Worldometer reporting about 8.26 billion in late 2025 and noting annual growth rates falling from 1.25% in 2015 to about 0.85% in 2025 [1] [2]. This numeric increase matters because any change in racial or ethnic shares must be read against an expanding and unevenly distributed global total.
2. The dominant story is regional, not "race" at global scale
International agencies in the provided material frame change mostly by region: Asia (especially India and China), Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America and Oceania. The UN and EU/JRC sources emphasize that growth between 2015 and coming decades is concentrated in Africa and parts of Asia, and that continents’ population shares shift accordingly [3] [1]. The reporting set does not supply a unified global taxonomy of “race” comparable across countries, so it is not possible from these sources to produce a consistent worldwide racial/ethnic breakdown change for 2015→2025 (available sources do not mention a harmonized global race/ethnicity time series).
3. Why a global race/ethnicity series is hard — definitions and data
National censuses and demographic datasets use different racial and ethnic categories; some treat “Hispanic” as an ethnicity, others do not; some allow multiple race responses; some do not collect race at all. The U.S. discussion in these sources shows evolving categories and measurement challenges that affect comparability across time and countries [4] [5]. Global datasets (UN, WorldPop, GPW/NASA) focus on counts by country, age and sex or gridded population rather than globally harmonized race/ethnicity categories [6] [7] [8]. That methodological reality limits what the current reporting can assert about race/ethnicity shifts worldwide.
4. National-level race/ethnicity changes: the United States as a clear example
Within-country racial and ethnic shifts are documented in the sources for the United States: minority groups (Hispanic, Asian, multiracial) have grown faster in recent years while the non‑Hispanic white population’s share has declined, and new OMB standards and Census adjustments affect classification [9] [10] [5]. Brookings and other analyses show Hispanic, Asian and multiracial groups accounted for the majority of recent U.S. population growth in the early 2020s [11]. These findings illustrate how national demographic dynamics—fertility, migration, self‑identification changes—drive racial/ethnic composition over a decade.
5. Ageing, urbanization and where growth occurs shape the racial story indirectly
UN reporting and population prospects emphasize ageing in Europe and rapid youth growth in Africa; urbanization concentrates populations into cities [8] [12]. Those regional and age shifts interact with race/ethnicity patterns at national scales (for example, younger cohorts being more diverse in the U.S.), but the provided sources focus on region‑and‑age composition rather than a global race breakdown [8] [12].
6. What the sources allow — and what they don’t
You can reliably say global population increased by roughly 0.9–1.0 billion between 2015 and 2025 and that growth is regionally concentrated in Africa and parts of Asia [1] [2] [3]. You can also document within‑country racial/ethnic shifts where sources exist (U.S. examples in [10], [9], p2_s7). What the current set of sources does not provide is a comparable, harmonized global distribution of people by race/ethnicity for 2015 and 2025—so any claim to a global racial percentage change would exceed what these documents report (available sources do not mention a global race/ethnicity distribution comparison for 2015 vs 2025).
7. Takeaway for readers and researchers
To answer your original question rigorously, researchers must assemble country‑level race/ethnicity microdata and reconcile disparate classification schemes, or else use proxy measures (region, language, ancestry surveys) and clearly document assumptions. The UN/WorldPop/GPW products are the right bases for population totals and spatial distributions [6] [7] [8]; national statistical offices and focused analyses (as in the U.S. material) are the only reliable sources for race/ethnicity changes at country scale [10] [9].