The world's poorest nations are responsible for the rapid population growth. Future global challenges will be harsher.
Less than one billion people inhabited the world as of 1804. We passed the two billion thresholds more than a century later, in 1927.
Since then, due to advances in modern medicine and public health, the world's population has increased at an exponential rate.
The worldwide growth rate, which is anticipated to diminish over the ensuing decades, has been unequal. Population-rich countries with slowing growth rates, like China and the United States, have raised concerns that their societies may collapse. Rising birthrates in less developed countries pose a hazard to already stressed systems.
According to the United Nations, low- and lower-middle-income nations, the majority of which are in sub-Saharan Africa, account for around 70% of the increase from seven billion to eight billion people. In the years to come, the trend is anticipated to intensify.
Globally, the fertility rate has decreased, and high-income countries can anticipate a decline in the population under 65 in the upcoming years. But the fertility rate has remained persistently high in poorer nations, where more women and girls lack access to sexual and reproductive health care, including contraception.
Undoubtedly, an increasing population puts additional strain on both the environment and the surrounding structures. It contributes to the acceleration of climate change.
The fact that the majority of the current population expansion is occurring in economically underdeveloped nations in Africa and Asia highlights the difficulties that come with this trend. Between now and 2050, the world's population is expected to grow by 1.7 billion people, with more than half of that increase expected to occur in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Tanzania—all of which the World Bank classifies as low- or lower-middle income countries.
The United Nations predicted that it would take 15 years before we reached nine billion in 2037 and another 22 years before we reached ten billion in 2058. It took 11 years for the population to increase from seven billion to eight billion.
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