The global population will add some 2 billion in the next three decades, closing in on a 10 billion milestone by 2050, the UN said. India, projected to overtake China, will lead the charge.
A newly released report by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and headlined “The World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights” estimates that a mind-boggling 9.7 billion people will inhabit the Earth by 2050, an increase of two billion from now.
Nine countries are projected to be responsible for over the half of that surge. Leading the momentum is India, which is said to add some 273 million to its already massive 1.37 billion population and overtake China, whose population is expected to shrink by 31.4 million between 2019 and 2050. China’s population will continue to dwindle and is set to reach 1.1 billion by 2100, while India is expected to have 1.4 billion inhabitants by that time.
Runner-up Nigeria is not lagging far behind and is expected to add some 200 million people by 2050. Pakistan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Indonesia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt and the US are the other seven countries that will be driving the world population’s growth in the next thirty years, according to the report.
But the biggest jump in the population size will happen in sub-Saharan Africa where it will grow two-fold by 2050, a development that might further strain fragile social systems of those countries.
“Many of the fastest growing populations are in the poorest countries, where population growth brings additional challenges”, Liu Zhenmin Under-Secretary-General DESA said in a press release Monday.
Although the figures are stunning, the population growth is slowing down and is expected to come to almost a standstill. At the moment an average number of births per woman is 2.5., but by 2050 it is projected to fall further down to 2.2 putting the world on the brink of the imminent population decline. The rate of 2.1 births per woman is considered to be barely enough to sustain the population which is expected to reach its maximum by the end of the century at 11 billion.
Also on rt.com BRICS is the future of global economy – South African politicianA lower number of births per woman will hit the hardest some 55 countries that are set to see their populations contracting by at least one percent. The pack is led by China and followed by other countries, many located in Eastern Europe or the Caribbean. Lithuania and Bulgaria will suffer from the biggest decline, seeing their population shrinking by 23 percent by 2050. Latvia with an estimated 22 percent decline is further followed by the Wallis and Futuna Islands (20 percent), and Ukraine (20 percent).
While researchers are sounding alarm over the rapid population growth in the developing world, they also pointing to the growing number of people of 65 years old and older that are also constitute an economic burden. While now only one in 11 people is of that senior age, in 2050 every six person will be 65 years of age or older. In some regions, like Asia, Latin America and Northern Africa, the proportion of the elderly population is expected to double by 2050, the study notes.
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India’s population to surpass China’s in 6 years, nearly 10 billion to tread Earth by 2050 – UN
India’s population to surpass China’s in 6 years, nearly 10 billion to tread Earth by 2050 – UN
