The world now has 8,000 million inhabitants, a number resulting from the vertiginous growth of the population during the last century thanks, above all, to the increase in average life expectancy, according to estimates by the United Nations (UN).
The world population, which took up to 1,800 years to reach one billion and which 100 years ago still did not reach two billion, continues to reach targets at an accelerated pace.
It took the world about 12 years to go from 7 billion to 8 billion, but population growth has been slowing down for decades.
The annual growth rate peaked in 1964, when it reached 2.2%, and has continued to drop below 1%.
According to UN calculations, it will take at least 15 years for the world to add the next billion inhabitants.
The agency projects that the world will have around 9.7 billion people by 2050 and that it will reach 10.4 billion during the 2080s, remaining at that level until at least 2100.
Currently, population growth is concentrated in a few countries.
More than half of the population increase between 2022 and 2050 is expected to occur in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania alone.
However, in that period, the population of 61 countries or areas is also expected to decline by at least 1% due to low birth rates.
For the UN, the 8 billion mark is a moment to celebrate, as it reflects a world with higher average life expectancy, fewer maternal and child deaths and increasingly effective health systems.
“I know this moment may not be celebrated by everyone. Some express concern that our world is overcrowded with too many people and that there are not enough resources to sustain their lives. I am here to say clearly that the large number of people still alive is nothing to be afraid of,” explained UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Natalia Kanem at a meeting with journalists last month.
The UN insists that there is no reason for demographic “alarmism” and recalls that the best way to contain population growth is to promote development, especially for women.
At present, China is the most populous country in the world, but it is expected that by 2023 it will be surpassed by India, according to projections.
The two Asian giants each have more than 1.4 billion inhabitants and are by far the biggest powers in demographic terms.
The United States is the third most populous country in the world with about 337 million, followed by Indonesia (275 million), Pakistan (234 million) and Nigeria (216 million).
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