World population to reach eight bln today: UN

The latest projections by the UN suggest that the global population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100.

“This year’s World Population Day falls during a milestone year, when we anticipate the birth of the Earth’s eight billionth inhabitant.

"This is an occasion to celebrate our diversity, recognize our common humanity, and marvel at advancements in health that have extended lifespans and dramatically reduced maternal and child mortality rates,” said the UN Secretary General António Guterres.

“At the same time, it is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another,” he said.

The annual World Population Prospect 2022 report, released on Monday to coincide with World Population Day, also notes that the global population is growing at its slowest rate since 1950, having fallen under one percent in 2020.

While it took the global population 12 years to grow from seven to eight billion, it will take approximately 15 years--until 2037-- for it to reach nine billion, a sign that the overall growth rate of the global population is slowing.

In 2022, the two most populous regions were both in Asia: Eastern and South-Eastern Asia with 2.3 billion people and Central and Southern Asia with 2.1 billion.

China and India, with more than 1.4 billion each, accounted for most of the population in these two regions.

More than half of the projected increase in global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just eight countries: Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.

Disparate growth rates among the world's largest countries will re-order their ranking by size.

According to UN estimates, India is projected to surpass China as the world's most populous country during 2023.

Population growth is caused in part by declining levels of mortality, as reflected in increased levels of life expectancy at birth.

Globally, life expectancy reached 72.8 years in 2019, an increase of almost nine years since 1990.

Further reductions in mortality are projected to result in a global average longevity of around 77.2 years in 2050.

Countries with the highest fertility levels tend to be those with the lowest income per capita.

Global population growth has therefore over time become increasingly concentrated among the world's poorest countries, most of which are in sub-Saharan Africa.

In these countries, sustained rapid population growth can thwart the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which remain the world's best pathway toward a happy and healthy future.

Even though population growth magnifies the environmental impact of economic development, rising per capita incomes are the main driver of unsustainable patterns of production and consumption.

The countries with the highest per capita consumption of material resources and emissions of greenhouse gas emissions tend to be those where income per capita is higher, not those where the population is growing rapidly.

Meeting the objectives of the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise, while achieving the SDGs, critically depends on curbing unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, according to the UN.