How many ants live on Earth? This study gives an astounding number

How many ants live on Earth?

A study done jointly by scientists in Australia, Hong Kong and Germany have come up with this answer: approximately 20,000,000,000,000,000. 20 followed by 15 zeroes. That is, 20 thousand million millions or 20 quadrillion.

There is another reason not to take that number lightly. The scientists estimated that the world's ants collectively constitute about 12 million tons of dry carbon. This exceeds the mass of all wild birds and wild mammals combined. It also equals one-fifth of the total weight of humans on Earth.


Writing for The Conversation, the scientists explained how they arrived at that figure.

Their research involved an analysis of 489 studies of ant populations conducted by fellow ant scientists from around the world. It included studies not just in English, but also in languages from French to Russian to Mandarin.

These 489 studies, which used standardised methods of counting, spanned all continents and all major habitats from forests to deserts to cities.

Finally they estimated there are approximately 20 quadrillion ants on Earth. The figure, though they called it conservative, is between two and 20 times higher than previous estimates.

There is a reason why the number is higher the scientists said previous studies went by a 'top down' approach by assuming that ants comprise about 1% of the world's estimated insect population. This study, in contrast, took the counts on the ground.

The next step was to find out their weight. They estimated that 20 quadrillion ants corresponds to a dry weight or “biomass” of approximately 12 million tons of carbon. More than the combined biomass of wild birds and mammals

Bear in mind, carbon makes up only about half the dry weight of an ant. If the weight of other bodily elements was included, the total mass of the world's ants would be higher.