World population to hit 9.6 billion by 2050
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E-mail Xinhua, June 14, 2013
The number of people in the world is hurtling to the 9.6 billion mark by 2050 from the present estimate of 7.2 billion, with most of the increase coming in developing countries, the United Nations projected on Thursday.
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The number of people in the world is hurtling to the 9.6 billion mark by 2050 from the present estimate of 7.2 billion. [File photo] |
India will eclipse China as the most populated nation around 2028, while Nigeria could outrank the United States by 2050, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) said during the launch of "World Population Prospects: The 2012 Review," its most recent revision of the official UN population estimates and projections.
Developing regions are projected to increase from 5.9 billion in 2013 to 8.2 billion in 2050, said John Wilmoth, director of DESA's Population Division. The population of developed regions will remain largely unchanged at around 1.3 billion people.
The most rapid growth is expected in the 49 least developed countries, the report said. They are expected to double in population from around 900 million people in 2013 to 1.8 billion in 2050.
In 2028, both China, now at 1.38 billion people, and India, at 1.25 billion, are expected to match populations at 1.45 billion each, the report said. India's will continue to grow for several decades to around 1.6 billion and then begin to decline while China's population is expected to start decreasing after 2030, and by 2100 "possibly reaching 1.1 billion."
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