The world is getting crowded, with the global population set to hit a whopping 8 billion inhabitants by mid November, according to UN population reporting.
According to the World Population Review, the world’s population continues to increase by about 140 people per minute, with births outweighing deaths in most countries.
Despite this, population experts say that the global population is growing at its slowest rate since 1950, having fallen under 1% in 2020.
China is the most populous country in the world, with a population estimated at more than 1.42 billion as of September 2022.
Only one other country in the world boasts a population of more than 1 billion people: India, whose population is estimated to be 1.41 billion people, and rising.
Experts say that the global population will reach 9.7 billion by the year 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100.
These are the top ten largest countries by population. Source: Worldometers.
China – 1 452 91 171
India – 1 412 37 739
US – 335 588 616
Indonesia – 280 437451
Pakistan – 231 374 606
Brazil – 216 140 350
Nigeria – 218 798 018
Bangladesh –168 605 02
Russia – 146 080 347
Mexico – 132 170 297
The World Population Prospects 2022 report also showed that fertility has fallen markedly in recent decades for many countries.
The report revealed that more than half of the projected increase in the global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.
Countries of sub-Saharan Africa are expected to contribute more than half of the increase anticipated through 2050.
“The relationship between population growth and sustainable development is complex and multidimensional” said Liu Zhenmin, UN under-secretary-feneral for Economic and Social Affairs. “Rapid population growth makes eradicating poverty, combating hunger and malnutrition, and increasing the coverage of health and education systems; more difficult.
The share of global population at ages 65 and above is projected to rise from 10% in 2022 to 16% 2050.
Global life expectancy at birth reached 72.8 years in 2019, an improvement of almost 9 years since 1990.
Reductions in mortality are projected to result in an average global longevity of around 77.2 years in 2050.
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected all three components of population change says the global life expectancy at birth, fell to 71 years in 2021.
Experts say that in some countries, successive waves of the pandemic may have produced short-term reductions in numbers of pregnancies and births, while for many other countries, there is little evidence of an impact on fertility levels or trends.
