Optimum population


The optimum population is a concept where the human population is able to balance maintaining a maximum population size with optimal standards of living for all people.

Overview

Regarding the human population, end-targets for an optimum population include ecological sustainability, economic output and philosophical or ethical ends-in-themselves.
Some commentators disagree with the concept of "optimum population", believing that the human population will always, in the long-term, be able to adapt to the requirements of a larger population.
Any conception of an optimum population level must lie between a minimum viable population of the human species and the maximum level of population that can be sustained by the carrying capacity of the planet Earth.

Estimations

Various end-targets are often balanced together in estimating the optimum human population, and different emphasis on different end-targets cause variability among estimates.
The optimal world population has been estimated by a team co-authored by Paul R. Ehrlich. End-targets in this estimation included:
Based on this, the estimation of optimum population was to be roughly around 1.5 billion to 2 billion people.