World Population Will Be 8.09 Billion on New Year’s Day after a 71 Million Increase in 2024

 The 2025 New Year's Eve numerals are displayed in Times Square, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in New York. (AP)
The 2025 New Year's Eve numerals are displayed in Times Square, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in New York. (AP)
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World Population Will Be 8.09 Billion on New Year’s Day after a 71 Million Increase in 2024

 The 2025 New Year's Eve numerals are displayed in Times Square, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in New York. (AP)
The 2025 New Year's Eve numerals are displayed in Times Square, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in New York. (AP)

The world population increased by more than 71 million people in 2024 and will be 8.09 billion people on New Year's Day, according to US Census Bureau estimates released Monday.

The 0.9% increase in 2024 was a slight slowdown from 2023, when the world population grew by 75 million people. In January 2025, 4.2 births and 2.0 deaths were expected worldwide every second, according to the estimates.

The United States grew by 2.6 million people in 2024, and the US population on New Year's Day will be 341 million people, according to the Census Bureau.

The United States was expected to have one birth every 9 seconds and one death every 9.4 seconds in January 2025. International migration was expected to add one person to the US population every 23.2 seconds. The combination of births, deaths and net international migration will increase the US population by one person every 21.2 seconds, the Census Bureau said.

So far in the 2020s, the US population has grown by almost 9.7 million people, a 2.9% growth rate. In the 2010s, the US grew by 7.4%, which was the lowest rate since the 1930s.



Buyer Splashes Out $1.3 Million for Tokyo New Year Tuna

 The head of a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yen (about 1.3 million US dollars), which was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki, is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
The head of a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yen (about 1.3 million US dollars), which was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki, is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
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Buyer Splashes Out $1.3 Million for Tokyo New Year Tuna

 The head of a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yen (about 1.3 million US dollars), which was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki, is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
The head of a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yen (about 1.3 million US dollars), which was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki, is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2025. (Reuters)

The top bidder at a Tokyo fish market said they paid $1.3 million for a tuna on Sunday, the second highest price ever paid at an annual prestigious new year auction.

Michelin-starred sushi restauranteurs the Onodera Group said they paid 207 million yen for the 276-kilogram (608 pound) bluefin tuna, roughly the size and weight of a motorbike.

It is the second highest price paid at the opening auction of the year in Tokyo's main fish market since comparable data started being collected in 1999.

The powerful buyers have now paid the top price for five years straight -- winning bragging rights and a lucrative frenzy of media attention in Japan.

"The first tuna is something meant to bring in good fortune," Onodera official Shinji Nagao told reporters after the auction. "Our wish is that people will eat this and have a wonderful year."

The Onodera Group paid 114 million yen for the top tuna last year.

But the highest ever auction price was 333.6 million yen for a 278-kilogram bluefin in 2019, as the fish market was moved from its traditional Tsukiji area to a modern facility in nearby Toyosu.

The record bid was made by self-proclaimed "Tuna King" Kiyoshi Kimura, who operates the Sushi Zanmai national restaurant chain.

During the Covid-19 pandemic the new year tunas commanded only a fraction of their usual top prices, as the public were discouraged from dining out and restaurants had limited operations.