26. March 2007
New Predictions on World Population
A new UN report published alarming facts on world population – whilst fertility will continue falling in developing countries, people will become older and population will decrease, the less developed countries will explode – the report predicts nearly do
the less developed countries will explode – the report predicts nearly double of the population till 2050.
Updated calculations show that people older than 60 years will be three times more till 2050 - about 2 billion people, almost one fourth of the predicted 9, 2 billion people. Some experts even talk about a world population around 12 billion people.
Most of the population growth in the world is expected from poorer countries, the combination of people living longer and having fewer children will continue being the trend in industrialized countries.
The UN report acts on the assumption that population in the so called industrial countries will stay the same, at about 1,2 billion people. Unlike the number of inhabitants in the 50 less developed countries will almost double.
Thoraya Obaid, UNFPA executive director, calls for more investments in family planning: “Currently, about 200 million women in these countries lack access to safe and effective contraceptive services. Funding for family planning must be increased to meet the needs of these women, not only to determine the world’s future, but also to prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce maternal and infant death.”
The ageing society is a phenomenon of the 21st century and is linked with the improvements in life expectancy and the ongoing advancements regarding the life-span.
In 46 countries, including Germany, Italy, Japan or South Korea population will become less till 2050. Population in Afghanistan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo or Liberia, Niger and East Timor or Uganda will triple in the next four decades.
And India, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, USA, Bangladesh and China will represent about half of the growth of the world population of a total of 2,5 billion.
Currents facts and informations on world population can be found on here.
Sources: UNFPA, Reuters