News is circulating these days according to which there are more Lego minifigures than people in the world: in reality this is not the case but the numbers are still impressive. In 2020, in fact, the popular Danish brick company announced that it had exceeded 4 billion pieces. Considering that in 2022 the world population reached 8 billion individuals, there is no doubt: we have more than one minifigure for every two people in the world.
As reported by the European Union Intellectual Property Officeon August 25, 1978, Lego launched its first minifigures, those smiling yellow humanoids now an icon of the Danish brand and one of over 120 EU brands that the company owns to date.
A fairly tortuous story (as was the story of Lego itself, and not without its shadows), which comes after having launched a precursor a few years earlier (with torsos without separate movable arms and heads without printed features) and designed almost 50 different prototypes before deciding on the definitive one.
And since then production has not only increased dramatically, it has also become very diversified.
But on August 1, 2020, the company wrote a post with various curiosities about the now famous minifigures, including:
Over 4 billion minifigures were produced! Over 4 billion minifigures have been produced since 1978: if they were people, they would represent the largest population on Earth, more than double the current population of China
About two years later, in November 2022, the UN estimates that the world’s population has reached eight billion, just 11 years after passing the seven billion mark.
So there’s not much doubt now: we certainly have more than one minifigure for every two people in the world (but we doubt that’s good news).
Sources: Legoland Discovery Center / European Union Intellectual Property Office/Facebook / Lego/Youtube
