POPULATION: THE NUMBERS

Population is a dynamic field. There have been significant changes

in birth rates and the population trajectories of countries and
continents in recent years. Global population is still growing by
more than 80 million a year, however, and is most likely to
continue growing for the rest of this century unless we take action.
CURRENT WORLD POPULATION
7,816,486,415
HOW WE GOT HERE
Until the time of Napoleon, there were less than 1 billion people on Earth at
any one time. Since the Second World War, we have been adding a billion
people to the global population every 12-15 years. Our population is more than
double today what it was in 1970.
WHERE WE COULD BE GOING NEXT
Every two years, the United Nations makes projections for future population
growth. Its latest median projection is a population of 9.7bn in
2050 and 10.9bn in 2100. Because many factors affect population growth, it
makes a range of projections depending on different assumptions. Within its
95% certainty range, the difference in population in 2100 from the highest to
lowest projection is almost 4bn people - more than half the population we
have today.
The second graph above shows the UN's projected population if, on average,
every other family had one fewer child or one more child than in the median
projection ('minus half a child' or 'plus half a child' per family).
This shows the enormous difference in total numbers that arise from just very
small variations in family size. If we can achieve that modest reduction in
number of children born, we will have more than 3bn people fewer by 2100 - a
lower population than we have today.
WHERE POPULATION GROWTH WILL OCCUR
 ● Nine countries will make up over half the projected total population
increase by 2050: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Indonesia, Egypt and USA.
● Around 2027, India is expected to overtake China as the world’s most
populous country.
● 55 countries are projected to experience a population reduction by
2050. China’s population, for example, is projected to decrease by 2.2%
or 31.4 million.
● Rapid population growth and its causes continue to pose a major
impediment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, in
particular eradicating hunger and poverty, achieving gender equality,
and improving health and education.

(Source: United Nations Population Fund, 2019)

More than half of the people added to the world's population over the rest of
the century will be in sub-Saharan Africa. Although it is falling, fertility rate
(the average number of children per woman) remains high in most African
countries (see 'Bringing Down Fertility' below for why). Due to its high fertility
rate, sub-Saharan Africa has a very young population - 60% of the population
is less than 25 years old. That means that many people are entering their
childbearing years. Thanks to improvements in access to health care, life
expectancy is increasing and child mortality is declining, meaning there are
now more generations alive at the same time.
These figures regarding populations of different continents and countries
include assumptions about future migration, but are necessarily very
speculative. Climate change, poverty and population pressures themselves will
lead to a highly mobile global population, with Africa likely to be the largest
source of emigrants.
FERTILITY RATES AND POPULATION

'Total fertility rate' - broadly speaking, the number of children a woman is

likely to have in her lifetime - gives an indication of how family size is
changing. A TFR of 2.1 is the "replacement rate" - a population with that TFR
will eventually stabilise.

● Globally, the current average TFR is 2.5.

● TFR is highest in sub-Saharan Africa, at 4.6.
● Almost half of all people now live in a country or area where TFR is
below the replacement rate.
● Fertility rates are expected to fall worldwide, to the point where no
country is expected to have fertility of more than five births per woman
by 2050.
(Source: United Nations Population Fund, 2019)
Populations are also affected by death rates, net migration and the proportion
of people of childbearing age. Populations of countries with fertility rates
below replacement level often continue to experience natural increase (births
minus deaths) for some time. In particular, where birth rates have recently
been high, when the babies born in that period reach childbearing age they
increase the number of families, even though the size of their families is
smaller than in the previous generation. This is called 'demographic
momentum' and means that the impact of changes in fertility normally take
many decades to be reflected in population.
Many countries with less than replacement rate are also growing in large part
due to net migration. When immigration is greater than emigration,
this increases numbers of people directly but it can also increase the birth rate.
This is usually because migrants tend to be younger people of working age so
are more likely to have children than the existing population, and because in
some cases, they come from countries or cultures with traditionally higher
fertility rates and family sizes.
(You can find out more about the meanings of the technical terms used on this
page in our Glossary)

BRINGING DOWN FERTILITY

Fertility rates decrease rapidly when women are empowered, when children
(especially girls) stay in education for longer, when countries become more
affluent, and, crucially, when people can use modern contraception.
More than 200 million women in developing countries currently have an
unmet need for family planning, meaning they do not want to get pregnant but
are not using moden contraceptive methods. Research published by the
Guttmacher Institute shows that this is often because they are unable to access
family planning but more commonly because of concerns about side effects
and misinformation, and, in nearly a quarter of cases, because their male
partners or others close to them oppose contraceptive use. Contraception
provision must be accompanied by education, support and female
emancipation to be effective.
Another important factor in uptake of contraception is desired family size.
Religious, cultural and social influences all play a part in that, as do economic
and political factors. Where people cannot rely on the state to support them,
they tend to have larger families to ensure they have children who can support
them. Where child mortality is still high, people also seek to have more
children. The "value" of women and girls may also be judged by the number of
children they have (not just in places where women are not empowered) and
traditions valuing larger families are often internalised.
Effective family planning programmes, such as that in Thailand, have also
addressed desired family size.
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