From the 2016 Datasheet Release Announcement/Highlights:
The world population will reach 9.9 billion in 2050, up 33 percent from an estimated 7.4 billion now, according to projections included in the 2016 World Population Data Sheet from the Population Reference Bureau (PRB).
The world population would hit the 10 billion mark in 2053 if the assumptions underlying PRB’s 2050 projections are applied to subsequent years.
PRB’s projections show Africa’s population will reach 2.5 billion by 2050, while the number of people in the Americas will rise by only 223 million to 1.2 billion. Asia will gain about 900 million to 5.3 billion, while Europe registers a decline from 740 million to 728 million. Oceania (which includes Australia and New Zealand) would rise from 40 million to 66 million.
PRB’s widely referenced World Population Data Sheet has been produced annually since 1962. This year’s edition provides the latest data on 19 key population, health, and environment indicators for the world, major regions, and more than 200 countries. PRB also added six indicators and analytical graphics that explore the balance between providing for human needs and sustainably managing the natural resources on which people depend.
According to the Data Sheet’s estimates of current population:
- Over 25 percent of the world’s population is less than 15 years old. The figure is 41 percent in least developed countries and 16 percent in more developed countries.
- Japan has the oldest population profile, with over a quarter of its citizens older than 65. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are at the other end of the spectrum, with each having only 1 percent over 65.
- The top 10 fertility rates in the world are in sub-Saharan African countries, with nearly all above six children per woman, and one topping seven. In Europe, the average is 1.6.
- The fertility rate in the United States is 1.8 children per woman, down from 1.9 in 2014. “Replacement” fertility in the United States—that is, the rate at which the population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next, excluding the effects of migration—is 2.1 children per woman.
- Thirty-three countries in Europe and Asia already have more people over age 65 than under 15.
Read the Complete News Release/Highlights
Resources
Direct to Population Reference Bureau Releases World Population Data 2016
Includes new data visualization tool.
Direct to World Population Data 2016 Datasheet (22 pages; PDF)
Direct to Additional Resources
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