By 2050 there will be a decrease in the number of residents of 1.5 percent or more in 11 countries, including Japan, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia and Latvia. The world has experienced “an unprecedented increase in population” over the past 50 years.
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And with the highest rate of population growth, Africa is expected to account for more than half of the worlds population growth over the next 35 years.
The report also said rapidly growing Nigeria is expected to eclipse the United States to become the third most populous country within the next 35 years.
REUTERS India will surpass China as the country with the greatest population around 2022.
The bulk of India’s population would be young and productive, providing the nation with what is known as demographic dividend.
“The concentration of growth in the poorest countries will make it harder to eradicate poverty, combat hunger and expand schooling and health systems”.
Wilmoth explained that although population growth rate had declined “gradually but steadily” since the 1970s, it had done so at different speeds in different parts of the world.
In its 2015 revision report, the population division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs said China’s population was now 1.38 billion, compared with 1.31 billion in India. Former Socialist countries such as Central and Eastern Europe have proved to be the exception to the rule in relation to population trends. The population of China, meanwhile, is expected to remain stable until the 2030s, and then decline.
But Africa will not be the only one growing. By 2050, six countries are expected to exceed 300 million: China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the USA, the report said. Now the average woman is having around 2.5 children over her lifetime. Among the largest in this group are Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Uganda and Afghanistan. In Europe, more than 34 percent of the population will be over 60 years old by 2050. “The demographic dividend can be enhanced further if policy makers take note of the areas of concern, particularly educational improvement and providing jobs for women”, says K S James from the Population Research Centre, Bangalore in an article published in Science in 2011.
He said that the current global population of 7.3 billion was forecast to reach 9.7 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, slightly above the last set of UN projections. Over the past century, death rates in the developed world have fallen dramatically.
The number of people living in 28 African countries is also expected to double, and by 2100 several countries will see a fivefold increase in their population.
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In the forecast issued by UN in 2013 India was expected to surpass China’s population by 2028.
