How many digits are in 100 billion?

Answer 1

It depends where you live! The problem is the definition of 'billion'.

Traditionally, in England a billion was 'a million million' while in the US it was 'a thousand million'. (So much easier to be a billionaire in the US!)

For other countries that speak English, it largely depended which of the two had the greatest influence on their historical development. In Australia for example, up to the nineteen seventies, the English English definition was used. Then at one stage the official position was that the word should not be used at all (in order to avoid confusion). Today, the US English definition is generally accepted. Because of the influence of the media, and things like United Nations population studies etc using the US definition, that is the most likely to be understood in your country, especially by the media (but you'd need to check official standards to be absolutely sure).

So if a billion is a thousand million, then 100 billion is

100 x 1000 000 000 = 100 000 000 000 i.e. 12 digits.