How Many Ribs Do Humans Have Sep 18, 2011 It is widely known that all vertebral species have ribs 1. Humans have a complex rib cage 2 which comprises of the sternum 3, ribs and some other parts. Every doctor knows how many ribs people have, but an ordinary man can have some difficulties with such a question. In fact, it is no difficult to memorize the answer: Every human (both men and women) has 24 coupled ribs (that is, 12 pairs)