World population to hit 8 billion

The United Nations estimated on Monday that the world’s population will reach 8 billion on Nov. 15 and that India will replace China as the world’s most populous nation next year.

In a report released on World Population Day, the U.N. also said global population growth fell below 1 per cent in 2020 for the first time since 1950.

According to the latest U.N. projections, the world’s population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030. That number will jump to 9.7 billion in 2050 and a peak of around 10.4 billion during the 2080s. It is forecast to remain at that level until 2100.

The report says more than half the projected increase in population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just eight countries: Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.

The report, “World Population Prospects 2022,” puts the world’s population at 7.942 billion now and forecasts it will reach 8 billion in mid-November.

John Wilmoth, director of the U.N. Population Division, said at a news conference to release the report that the date when the U.N.’s projection line crosses 8 billion is Nov. 15.

But, he noted, “we do not pretend that’s the actual date … and we think that the uncertainty is at least plus or minus a year.”