World Population crosses 8 billion on 15 November 2022: United Nations

Tags: National International News

According to the United Nations (UN) the world human population has crossed the 8 billion mark on 15 November 2022 and it is expected to grow to 10.4 billion by 2080’s. The United Nations attributed the rise in population to a gradual increase in human longevity due to improvements in public health, nutrition, personal hygiene, and medicine. 

Historical growth of Human Population 

• According to the UN Population Fund , it took 12 years for the global population to go from 7 billion to 8 billion.
• In less than 100 years since 1930, the world population has grown four times. 
• The global human population crossed the billion milestone in 1804 and it took another 126 years to cross the 2 billion population mark in 1930.
• It crossed the 3 billion mark in the next 30 years, 4th billion in the next 14 years and the 5th billion in the next 13 years.
•  The annual population growth rate was highest between 1963 and 1972, at over 2 per cent. 
• The growth rate has declined since then, and has fallen below 1 per cent since 2021.

Future Projections of Human population growth 

• According to the United Nations it will take around 15 years until 2037 for it to reach 9 billion.
• It has been projected that the world population could grow to nearly 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and 10.4 billion in 2100. 
• More than half of the projected increase in global population till 2050 will be concentrated in Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, and Tanzania. 
• India is projected to cross China as the world’s most populous country during 2023. 
• The most populous regions on Earth are Eastern and South-Eastern Asia with 2.3 billion people and Central and Southern Asia with 2.1 billion people. India and China 

According to the World Bank population projection:

• In 2022 China and India account for over a third of the world’s population, with China‘s share at 18.2 per cent and India’s at 17.7 per cent. 
• The world’s third most populous country, the United States of America and the fourth most populous Indonesia at present in 2022, have a share of 4.2 per cent and 3.5 percent of the global population respectively.
• This is expected to change by 2050, with India having the world’s highest population share at 16.8 percent, while China’s population share would have declined by over 4.2 per cent.
• India is projected to add over 2.3 billion people by 2050, while China’s population is projected to decline from 2030 onwards.
• At present Asia has the largest share of the world’s population, Africa is home to the youngest population with a median age of just 20, and Europe will have the oldest population on the globe  with a median age of around 43.