According to UN estimates, the world’s population is now 8 billion people. However, the growth rate has slowed significantly in recent decades.
The UN has estimated that the world’s population exceeded 8 billion today, Tuesday.
The number sounds crazy. The current population is more than three times as large as in 1950, when there were 2.5 billion people on Earth. The 7 billion threshold was reached only 11 years ago.
However, the UN points out that the growth rate has slowed down significantly since the early 1960s.
While in 1962–65 the population growth was still 2.1 percent, in 2020 it was less than one percent.
According to the UN, growth may drop to 0.5 percent by 2050 due to the decrease in the birth rate.
UN: The peak will be reached in the 2080s
According to the UN, the population is growing now because people are living longer due to improvements in healthcare, food, medicine and personal hygiene.
In addition, the issue is influenced by high birth rates in developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan African countries.
Based on its calculations, the UN estimates that the world’s population will rise to 8.5 billion by 2030 and 9.7 billion by 2050.
The population peak would be reached in the 2080s, when there would be around 10.4 billion people living on Earth. It would remain at that level until the year 2100.
– The era of rapid growth that we have seen for a long time is coming to an end, head of the UN Population Division John Wilmoth says.
Other people also make predictions about population development. The US Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimated in a study two years ago that the world’s population would reach its peak in 2064 and never reach 10 billion.
India will sweep past China next year
China has the most people, but hardly for much longer. According to UN estimates, India will become the largest country in terms of population next year.
There are currently 1.426 billion people living in China and 1.412 billion in India. The United States has the third largest population.
More than half of the projected population growth by 2050 is estimated to occur in eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.
On the other hand, the birth rate has decreased steadily in, for example, the United States, Europe and Japan.
AFP, AP, Reuters
More on the topic:
UN Population Report 2022 (you will switch to another service)
Today, the world’s population exceeds eight billion, and that has its good points as well