What are the highlights of the report?
- The key takeaways from the report is world will have twice as many 65 aged persons as under-5s by 2050.
- The next 30 years will see the population add 2 billion people to today’s 7.7 billion and reach 11 billion by the end of the century.
- The report projects India will overtake China as the most populous country by around 2027.
What are the big pictures of the report?
- Population Growth - The overall growth rate will continue to fall but the world population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050.
- The next 30 years will add 2 billion and reach 11 billion by the end of the century.
- The countries expected to show the biggest increase are India, Nigeria and Pakistan.
- Fertility – The fertility rate is falling worldwide.
- Globally, the average number of births per woman fell to 2.5 in 2019 from 3.2 in 1990. It is projected to fall further to 2.2 births by 2050.
- Age Pyramid – In 2018, for the first time, persons aged 65 years or over worldwide outnumbered children under age five
- By 2050, persons aged 65 years or over will be more than twice as many persons above 65 as children under five and will surpass number of adolescents and youth aged 15-34.
- In India, children under age five still outnumber the over-65 population, who are projected to overtake the under-five group between 2025 and 2030.
- By 2050, persons over age 65 will make up about one-seventh of India’s population.
- By then, the 15-24 group in India (13.8%), too, will outnumber the over-65 group (13.6%).
- Children under age five are projected to constitute less than 6% of India’s population in 2050, as compared to 7% globally.
- Life expectancy – It will increase from 64.2 years in 1990 to 77.1 years in 2050.
- However, life expectancy in poorer countries is projected to continue to lag behind.
- The report said that, today, the average lifespan of a baby born in one of the least developed countries will be some 7 years shorter than one born in a developed country.
- The main reasons are high child and maternal mortality rates, conflict and insecurity, and the continuing impact of the HIV epidemic.
- Dwindling populations - The populations of 55 countries are projected to decrease by 1% or more between 2019 and 2050.
- The main reductions are expected in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and the Wallis and Futuna Islands.
- This is because of sustained low levels of fertility, and, in some places, high rates of emigration.
- Migration flows have become a major reason for population change in certain regions.
- Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines are seeing the largest migratory outflows resulting from the demand for migrant workers.
- Myanmar, Syria and Venezuela are the countries where the largest numbers are leaving because of insecurity or conflict.
- Sex ratio - Males are projected to continue to outnumber females until the end of the century, but the gap will close.
Source: The Indian Express
