Paleodemography deals with the birth and death statistics of past populations and tries to answer this question as much as possible.
Since more than 99% of modern human history is not recorded, it is not possible to give a definite answer to this question, but it is possible to make a rough estimate thanks to some calculations.
As a result of evolution, “man” has passed through various stages, so there is no definite time when we can start counting.
It is not easy to determine when humanity actually emerged. The earliest hominins are thought to have appeared around 7 million BC. The earliest species of the genus Homo appeared around 2 million to 1.5 million BC. Current evidence suggests that modern homo sapiens arose around 190,000 BC.
We evolved from pre-human ancestors before this date, and as we go back there will be transitions to less human-like creatures. We cannot say exactly where humanity began, as there is no sharp distinction.
So where do we start counting?
The number of people who lived before modern humans is almost nothing compared to the total number of humans, because they did not have a population that was multiplying as fast as we do. Therefore, they do not have a serious effect on the computation. The year 50,000 BC is a good starting year for a computationally reliable estimate, since it is possible to more or less estimate the number of people in that period.
According to calculations based on various assumptions, the answer to this question is approximately “117 billion”.
The number of people alive today is about 7% of the number of people who have lived and died.
Human population in different periods according to paleodemographic statistics:
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Although we are a slow-breeding animal species compared to other species, our extinction will probably be due to the problems brought by high population growth, as the damage we have done is so great.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
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