No UN demographic report confirms that women outnumber men by billions or that only one billion men are available for marriage.
By Yahaya Idris
A viral social media message claiming that the United Nations (UN) has declared a global shortage of men has been found to be false and misleading.
The widely circulated post alleges that the UN’s demographic report for the first quarter of 2025 states that the world’s population stands at 7.8 billion, comprising 5.6 billion women and 2.2 billion men. It further claims that after accounting for married men, prisoners, people with mental illness, unemployed men, elderly men, gay men, Catholic priests, and relatives, only about one billion men remain “available for marriage.”
However, there is no official United Nations demographic report containing these figures or conclusions.
According to internationally recognized population estimates, the global population is slightly above eight billion people, with men and women making up nearly equal shares of the world’s population. In fact, males slightly outnumber females globally, although the balance varies by country and age group.
Demographers note that statistics relating to marital status, employment, incarceration, sexual orientation, age, religion, and health cannot be combined in the simplistic manner presented in the viral message. Many of the categories overlap, meaning the same individual may fall into multiple groups, making the calculations mathematically invalid.
Experts also stress that portraying men or women as being in “short supply” based on such unsupported calculations can promote stereotypes and misinformation rather than informed public discussion.
The United Nations regularly publishes demographic and population data through its official population reports, but no publication advises women to “treat men with respect because there is a global shortage of men,” as claimed in the viral post.
Readers are advised to verify sensational demographic claims through official sources before sharing them on social media.
The claim that the UN reported a worldwide shortage of men or that there are 5.6 billion women compared to 2.2 billion men is false and unsupported by official demographic data.