Answers.Body: <p>To get the official info, I have asked LEGO about this topic:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Dear LEGO, in 2003 you have reported that there are (were) 4.000.000.000 LEGO minifigures produced by that time.
    I was wondering if there are more recent numbers available, especially since the popularity of the collectible minifigures, which could indicate an increase in the production rate.</p>
    
    <p>Could you please provide some official information? Even estimates would be welcome.</p>
    
    <p>Thank you!</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>And received the following reply:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Thanks for getting in touch with us.</p>
    
    <p>Thank you for your interest in LEGO® Trivia, that is an interesting question.</p>
    
    <p>You are certainly right that the number should have increased drasticly since then but I can't give you any new numbers. I am sorry but you will have to wait till our marketing department decides it is time to release more fun facts like this.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>So in the absence of official numbers, we can only guess.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-01-03T13:21:11.840Z
Answers.Text: Haha, they don't know. Right now some LEGO agent is consulting the Bricklink catalog to come up with a number :)
Answers.UserDisplayName: Metalbeard
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-12-18T19:41:58.737Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-12-18T19:41:58.737Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: zovits
Answers.Body: <p>Although it is impossible to be sure without more information from the LEGO Group, it seems likely the answer is <strong>yes</strong> (both now, and when the question was asked)—at least when you consider all minifigures ever produced, ignoring whatever minifigures have somehow been destroyed.</p>
  <p>In early 2015, Lego reported that &quot;Over the years more than 5 billion minifigures have been produced&quot;. This is in the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150226063220/http://cache.lego.com/r/www/r/aboutus/-/media/about%20us/media%20assets%20library/company%20profiles/the_lego_group_company_profile_2015_eng.pdf?l.r2=-1675586477" rel="nofollow noreferrer">2015 company profile</a> which I found on the Internet Archive. This was published on February 25, 2015, together with their 2014 Annual Report, so I think we can assume it reflects the state at the end of 2014/beginning of 2015.</p>
  <p>In their 2015 report (also available <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160304024745if_/https://www.lego.com/en-gb/aboutus/events/annual-result-2015#/play-minifigures" rel="nofollow noreferrer">on the Internet Archive</a>), they said &quot;In 2015, we made more than 725 million LEGO® minifigures globally.&quot;</p>
  <p>Assuming that they've produced at least that many minifigures annually since then (and if anything, I would expect the annual production to have increased), then over the course of 2018, the number of minifigures ever produced would grow from 5,000,000,000 + 725,000,000×3 = 7,175,000,000 to 5,000,000,000 + 725,000,000×4 = 7,900,000,000.</p>
  <p>At some point during the year the number would have been equal to the human population, which estimates place somewhere between 7.44 billion up to 7.63 billion in 2018.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-12-10T04:58:51.307Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-12-10T15:16:07.437Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2020-12-10T15:16:07.437Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Nick Matteo
Answers.Body: <p>It appears not to be the case. <a href="https://www.bricksmcgee.com/blog/international-lego-day-lego-facts/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This link</a> notes there were only 4 billion minifigures in the world in 2022 and around 340 million LEGO minifigures are produced every year.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-07-22T05:25:12.837Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2024-07-22T12:02:13.600Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2024-07-22T12:02:13.600Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: user24854
Body: <p>In 2014 Randall Munroe of XKCD predicted that there would be more minifigures than people by 2019.</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://xkcd.com/1281/" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/wfkbr.png" alt=""></a></p>
  
  <p>Was he correct? Have we reached the crossing point, and if so, when? If not, when will we?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-12-16T17:15:20.480Z
Comments.Text: I do not know the answer but the growth of the human population is definitely not linear.
Comments.UserDisplayName: BalazsToth
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-12-16T18:44:02.210Z
Comments.Text: From skeptics [Will Lego people outnumber people by 2017?](https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/19521/will-lego-people-outnumber-people-by-2017)
Comments.UserDisplayName: Ankit Sharma
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-12-16T18:44:59.913Z
Comments.Text: @BalazsToth since 1970 it has been
Comments.UserDisplayName: Tim
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-12-16T19:30:37.540Z
Comments.Text: Someone told me that in 2012 we already had reached the crossing point. However, I was not able to find the source yet. Maybe it is not that obvious.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Metalbeard
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-12-17T00:09:51.580Z
Comments.Text: @Tim Checked it, you’re right. I was pretty sure it’s rather exponential. Good to know!
Comments.UserDisplayName: BalazsToth
Tags: <minifigures>
Title: Are there more LEGO minifigures than humans?
UserDisplayName: Tim
ThreadText: # Are there more LEGO minifigures than humans?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2018-12-16)
  
  In 2014 Randall Munroe of XKCD predicted that there would be more minifigures than people by 2019.
  
  [![](https://i.sstatic.net/wfkbr.png)](https://xkcd.com/1281/)
  
  Was he correct? Have we reached the crossing point, and if so, when? If not, when will we?
  
  **Tags:** minifigures
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: I do not know the answer but the growth of the human population is definitely not linear.  
  > **username_2**: From skeptics [Will Lego people outnumber people by 2017?](https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/19521/will-lego-people-outnumber-people-by-2017)  
  > **username_0**: @username_1 since 1970 it has been  
  > **username_3**: Someone told me that in 2012 we already had reached the crossing point. However, I was not able to find the source yet. Maybe it is not that obvious.  
  > **username_1**: @username_0 Checked it, you’re right. I was pretty sure it’s rather exponential. Good to know!  
  
  ---
  
  ## 3 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2018-12-18. Score: 9
  
  To get the official info, I have asked LEGO about this topic:
  
  > Dear LEGO, in 2003 you have reported that there are (were) 4.000.000.000 LEGO minifigures produced by that time.
  > I was wondering if there are more recent numbers available, especially since the popularity of the collectible minifigures, which could indicate an increase in the production rate.
  >
  > Could you please provide some official information? Even estimates would be welcome.
  >
  > Thank you!
  
  And received the following reply:
  
  > Thanks for getting in touch with us.
  >
  > Thank you for your interest in LEGO® Trivia, that is an interesting question.
  >
  > You are certainly right that the number should have increased drasticly since then but I can't give you any new numbers. I am sorry but you will have to wait till our marketing department decides it is time to release more fun facts like this.
  
  So in the absence of official numbers, we can only guess.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_3**: Haha, they don't know. Right now some LEGO agent is consulting the Bricklink catalog to come up with a number :)  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_5 on 2020-12-10. Score: 6
  
  Although it is impossible to be sure without more information from the LEGO Group, it seems likely the answer is **yes** (both now, and when the question was asked)—at least when you consider all minifigures ever produced, ignoring whatever minifigures have somehow been destroyed.
  
  In early 2015, Lego reported that "Over the years more than 5 billion minifigures have been produced". This is in the [2015 company profile](https://web.archive.org/web/20150226063220/http://cache.lego.com/r/www/r/aboutus/-/media/about%20us/media%20assets%20library/company%20profiles/the_lego_group_company_profile_2015_eng.pdf?l.r2=-1675586477) which I found on the Internet Archive. This was published on February 25, 2015, together with their 2014 Annual Report, so I think we can assume it reflects the state at the end of 2014/beginning of 2015.
  
  In their 2015 report (also available [on the Internet Archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20160304024745if_/https://www.lego.com/en-gb/aboutus/events/annual-result-2015#/play-minifigures)), they said "In 2015, we made more than 725 million LEGO® minifigures globally."
  
  Assuming that they've produced at least that many minifigures annually since then (and if anything, I would expect the annual production to have increased), then over the course of 2018, the number of minifigures ever produced would grow from 5,000,000,000 + 725,000,000×3 = 7,175,000,000 to 5,000,000,000 + 725,000,000×4 = 7,900,000,000.
  
  At some point during the year the number would have been equal to the human population, which estimates place somewhere between 7.44 billion up to 7.63 billion in 2018.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_6 on 2024-07-22. Score: 0
  
  It appears not to be the case. [This link](https://www.bricksmcgee.com/blog/international-lego-day-lego-facts/) notes there were only 4 billion minifigures in the world in 2022 and around 340 million LEGO minifigures are produced every year.
  
  
  ---
  
  