World’s population to surpass 8bn in November – UN report

The number of people living on earth is expected to be eight billion before the end of the year, probably around November 15, according to a latest report by the United Nations. 

The UN also said that India will overtake China as the most populous country in the world by 2023 in the report to mark World Population Day on Monday.

According to the report, India’s population stands at 1.412 billion in 2022, compared to China’s 1.426 billion.

India, which will surpass China as the world’s most populous nation by 2023, is expected to have a population of 1.668 billion in 2050, way ahead of China’s 1.317 billion people by the middle of the century.

The report entitled ‘The World Population Prospects 2022 by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ said: “The latest projections by the United Nations suggest that the global population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100.”

It further said: “Population growth is caused in part by declining levels of mortality, as reflected in increased levels of life expectancy at birth.

“Globally, life expectancy reached 72.8 years in 2019, an increase of almost 9 years since 1990.

“Further reductions in mortality are projected to result in an average longevity of around 77.2 years globally in 2050.

“More than half of the projected increase in global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania.

“Disparate growth rates among the world’s largest countries will re-order their ranking by size.

“India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country during 2023. Countries of sub-Saharan Africa are expected to continue growing through 2100 and to contribute more than half of the global population increase anticipated through 2050.

“Whereas the populations of Australia and New Zealand, Northern Africa and Western Asia, and Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand) are expected to experience slower, but still positive, growth through the end of the century, the populations of Eastern and SouthEastern Asia, Central and Southern Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Northern America are projected to reach their peak size and to begin to decline before 2100.”