Human sex ratio

Rare card · No. 61113

The human sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population in the context of anthropology and demography. In humans, the natural sex ratio at birth is slightly biased towards the male sex. It is estimated to be about 1.05 worldwide or within a narrow range from 1.03 to 1.06 males per female at birth. The sex ratio for the entire world population including all ages is approximately 101 males to 100 females as of 2024. The sex ratios at birth and of the total population are affected by various factors including natural factors, exposure to pesticides and environmental contaminants, war casualties, effects of war on men, sex-selective abortions, infanticides, aging, gendercide, problems with birth registration, and sex differences in life expectancy. Human sex ratios, either at birth or in the population as a whole, can be reported in any of four ways: the ratio of males to females, the ratio of females to males, the proportion of males, or the proportion of females. If there are...

Read on Wikipedia · Image United Nations Population Division and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, CC BY 4.0