At the start of the nineteenth century, the world population was 1 billion. Today, 200 years later, that number has jumped to over 6 billion. In 2025, the population is projected to be nearly 8 billion. In 2050, it is projected to reach 9.3 billion. The rate of growth in the new millennium is not expected to be as rapid as it has been for the last century; however, it is still much too large to be ignored. In the next 50 years, our world population is expected to grow by nearly 150 percent. We can expect many changes in this new millennium. Not only are we growing as a population, but our demographics are also changing.
Population Growth Focused In World's Less Developed Countries
Ninety-nine percent of global natural increase - the difference between numbers of births and numbers of deaths - now occurs in the developing regions of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Projections indicate that soon the number of deaths will outnumber the births in the world's most developed countries, meaning all of the world population growth will be coming from the developing nations.
Fewer Babies And Fewer Deaths… Still More Population
People are continuing to have fewer children, and of those children fewer are dying. Fertility and mortality rates have reached numbers unparalleled in human history. Still, the declining numbers can be deceiving. Fertility still remains high in Africa and the Middle East. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the average woman has twice as many children as in the more developed countries. Unmet need for contraceptives is a major factor. It is estimated that some 120 million married women in the world's developing regions have this unmet need. Infant mortality is also a problem, again especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where children have the lowest life expectancy. In 1999, some 7.7 million children worldwide are expected to die before they reach their first birthday.
The World Gets Older
In the next quarter-century, the world will also continue to see an aging of our population. Older age groups are expected to make up larger and larger percentages of our total population. In the next 25 years, the number of elderly in the world is expected to double, while the number of children under the age of 15 will increase by 5 or 6 percent. Because this phenomenon of the elderly population outpacing the working population is occurring in every major world region, the effects are quite large. The support burden that the world will face in 2025 will be almost 50 percent larger than the burden it faces now.
Still, in most parts of the world, even with this increase in the elderly population, children will make up the majority of dependents. Today, nearly 90 percent of dependents in the less developed countries are under 15. Children will still make up nearly 75 percent of dependents by 2025. Only in the United States and other more developed countries will the elderly population actually outnumber those under the age of 15.
HIV/AIDS
Currently about 40 million people worldwide have contracted HIV since it was discovered in the late 1970s. Of those, more than 11 million have died. Sub-Saharan Africa is the hotbed of HIV/AIDS activity and it is expected to become a considerable problem in Asia in the future. The mortality rates connected with AIDS makes it necessary to mention it here, however these numbers will not affect the momentum with which the world population continues to grow.
Interesting Facts And Links
The world population reached the 6 billion mark in 1999.
From 1804, when the world passed the 1 billion mark, it took:
123 years to reach 2 billion people in 1927,
33 years to attain 3 billion in 1960,
14 years to reach 4 billion in 1974,
13 years to attain 5 billion in 1987 and
12 years to reach 6 billion in 1999. (http://www.popin.org/pop1998/)
Watch the population grow…
http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html
