The world will reach 8,000 million inhabitants next Novemberaccording to estimates presented by the UN, which also forecast that India will surpass China in 2023 as the most populous country on the planet.
The United Nations specifically hopes that the 8 billionth inhabitant born next november 15according to its latest World Population Prospects report.
“This is an occasion to celebrate our diversityrecognize our common humanity and marvel at the advances in health that have lengthened lives and dramatically reduced maternal and infant mortality rates,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement.
The milestone will come at a time when the global population is growing at its slowest rate since 1950 and in which population growth is concentrated mainly in a handful of countries.
The civilian population of Odessa, in the Ukraine. Photo EFE
eight countries
According to the United Nations, more than half of the population increase expected between now and 2050 will occur in just eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.
At the current rate, the UN estimates that the world will have about 8,500 million inhabitants by 2030 and about 9.7 billion by 2050.
The organization expects the world population to reach about 10.4 billion people during the 2080s and to remain at that level until at least the year 2100.
Fertility rate has dropped very significantly in recent decades in a large number of countries and today, two thirds of the global population lives in areas where the average is below 2.1 births per woman, the approximate figure required for the number of inhabitants remains stable in places with low mortality.
In fact, between 2022 and 2050, the population of 61 countries or areas is expected to decrease by at least 1% due to low birth rates and, in some cases, high emigration.
India, the new giant
As of 2023, India will be the most populous country in the world, finally surpassing China, as projections have been pointing out for years.
La ciudad de Linfen, en la provincia china de Shanxi. Foto EFE
The two Asian giants each have more than 1.4 billion inhabitants and they are by far the greatest powers in demographic terms.
The United States is the third most populous country in the world.with some 337 million, followed by Indonesia (275 million), Pakistan (234 million), and Nigeria (216 million).
The African country will experience dizzying population growth in the coming decades and the UN estimates that by 2050 it will have some 375 million inhabitants, a figure similar to that expected for the US.
In 1990, Nigeria was only the tenth most populous country in the world, with some 94 million inhabitants.
The United Nations report also analyzes the important impact that the pandemic has had of covid-19 in the world population.
According to the document, global life expectancy fell in 2021 to 71 years, after having reached 72.8 years in 2019, an improvement of almost 9 years since 1990.
In addition, it is believed that in some countries the successive waves of the coronavirus may have reduced the number of pregnancies and births.
Source: EFE
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