According to ‘World Population Prospects – The 2017 Revision’ released by United Nations on Jun 21, 2017, world’s population will surpass the 8 billion mark in year 2023.
India’s population to surpass that of China’s around 2024: UN
According to ‘World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision’ released by United Nations on Jun 21, 2017, the population of India is expected to surpass that of China by year 2024.
Highlights of World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision
The report said, the current world population of 7.6 billion is expected to reach 6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100.
- Currently China with 1.41 billion inhabitants and India with 1.34 billion remain the two most populous countries, comprising 19% and 18% of the total global population.
- In 2024, India and China are expected to have roughly a population of 1.44 billion each. After that, India’s population is projected to continue growing for several decades to around 1.5 billion in 2030 and approaching 1.66 billion in 2050, while the population of China is projected to remain stable until the 2030s, after which it may begin a slow decline.
- The report outlined that more than half of the global population growth by 2050 will come from sub-Saharan Africa, where fertility rates will persist at higher levels as compared to rest of the world
- India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, The US, Uganda and Indonesia will contribute about nearly 50% to the population growth.
- By 2050, 7 of the world’s 20 most populous nations will be African.
- The report has highlighted that fertility rates in all European countries have dropped below replacement level, thus the population across Europe will decline significantly if there is no large-scale migration.
- Population in Eastern European countries including Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine is expected to fall by more than 15%.
- As per the report, there are more men than women globally. There are 102 men for every 100 women.
- For the first time, the number of people over 60 years of age will cross 1 billion in year 2018 and 2 billion by year 2050.
- 25% of world population comprise children below 15 years of age.
- The median age of the world’s population is 30.
About World Population Prospects:
World Population Prospects is published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
- The 2017 Revision of World Population Prospects is the 25th round of official UN population estimates and projections.
- In its 24th round of estimates released in 2015, it was projected that the population of India will surpass that of China’s by 2022.
