On Tuesday, the world’s population surpassed the 8 billion mark, just 12 years after surpassing the 7 billion mark. According to the United Nations’ most recent forecasts, the world population might reach 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and 10.4 billion in 2100.
“Unless we bridge the yawning chasm between the global haves and have-nots, we are setting ourselves up for an 8-billion-strong world filled with tensions and mistrust, crisis and conflict,” said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
According to a press release by the international body, the occasion is also a clarion call for mankind to look well beyond numbers and meet its shared obligation to safeguard people and the earth, beginning with the most disadvantaged.
According to the World Population Prospectus 2022, the average fertility of the world’s population in 2021 was 2.3 births per woman during a lifetime, down from roughly 5 births per woman in 1950. Global fertility is expected to fall even more by 2050, to 2.1 births per woman.
Eastern and South-Eastern Asia with 2.3 billion people (29 per cent of the world population) and Central and Southern Asia with 2.1 billion people were the two most populated areas in 2022. (26 per cent). With almost 1.4 billion people each, China and India accounted for the majority of the population in these two areas. In 2023, India is expected to overtake China as the world’s most populated country.
More than half of the predicted worldwide population rise between 2022 and 2050 is likely to be concentrated in only eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and the United Republic of Tanzania.
According to the United Nations Population Fund, in order to increase demographic resilience, we must invest in improved infrastructure, education, and health care, as well as assure access to sexual and reproductive health and rights. We must remove the barriers that prevent individuals from obtaining the services and opportunities they require, whether they are based on gender, colour, disability, or immigrant status.