Saturday, October 5, 2019

World population projected to reach 10.9 billion by 2100

The UN Population Division published this year its report World Population Prospects: The 2019 Revision with lots of goodies, including the latest world population projections. Here are the ten key findings of the report:
  1. The world’s population continues to increase, but growth rates vary greatly across regions
  2. Nine countries will make up more than half the projected population growth between now and 2050
  3. Rapid population growth presents challenges for sustainable development
  4. In some countries, growth of the working-age population is creating opportunities for economic growth
  5. Globally, women are having fewer babies, but fertility rates remain high in some parts of the world
  6. People are living longer, but those in the poorest countries still live 7 years less than the global average
  7. The world’s population is growing older, with persons over age 65 being the fastest-growing age group 
  8. Falling proportions of working-age people are putting pressure on social protection systems
  9. A growing number of countries are experiencing a reduction in population size
  10. Migration has become a major component of population change in some countries

A neat visualization of population growth by region based on UN Population Division (2019) medium variant scenario projections. This chart was put together by Our World in Data, who have plenty more material on this and other topics.