Governance

There will be 2 billion more people on Earth by 2050: UN report

India will overtake China as the world’s most populous country in the next eight years, according to the United Nation’s The World Population Prospects 2019 report

 
Published: Tuesday 18 June 2019

The global population is expected to increase to 9.7 billion by 2050 from the current 7.7 billion, according to the United Nation’s The World Population Prospects 2019 report.

According to the new report by UN, India will overtake China as the world’s most populous country in the next eight years. Nearly 273 million people will be added to the population count between 2019 and 2050, added the report.

Just nine countries will be responsible for more than half the projected population growth by 2050. These countries are India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Indonesia, Egypt, and the US.

The report is based on population estimates from 1950 to the present for 235 countries or areas. 

The global fertility rate is also estimated to fall to 2.2 births per woman by 2050, from an average of 3.2 births in 1990

The lower fertility rate is due to increasing education and employment, especially for women, according to the report.  The UN report added that a fertility level of 2.1 births per woman is necessary to ensure population replacement and avoid declines.

According to UN, many of the poorest countries have the fastest growing populations. And this growth will bring additional challenges in the efforts to eradicate poverty. 

The falling population size can be reinforced by high rates of immigration. Migration flows have become a major reason for population change in certain regions like Bangladesh, Philippines, and Syria, read the report. And immigration is expected to plug the gaps of population, particularly in Belarus, Estonia, and Germany.

According to the UN report, the proportion of people over 65 years will increase to one in six people by 2050. The higher the proportion of older people, the more will be the financial pressure on countries in the coming decades.

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